How does sunlight kill virus and bacteria particles? Is this always the case. My mom is a pharmacist and she said that it's not. That some are aneraerobic and some are aerobic. But is there something more likely than another to kill a good amount of particles? How does blood make it worse, exactly?
2007-03-28 14:25:28 · 4 answers · asked by accebere 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
I think you're confusing a few things, so I'll try to sort it out into points.
Ultraviolet light (but not regular visible light or anything lower in energy than that) can disrupt the bonds that hold DNA together. If enough UV light disrupts enough DNA, the virus or the bacteria can't replicate. UV light can disrupt DNA in your bodies too, which is how people get skin cancer if they use tannig beds or go outside without protecting themselves from the sun (with clothes or sunscreen).
Aerobic and anaerobic means either the microbe needs oxygen to survive, or it doesn't need oxygen to survive. This has nothing to do with light.
Which will kill more things? That depends on the microbe, and how you apply either oxygen or UV light. Can you elaborate more in your question details?
2007-03-29 05:44:56 · answer #1 · answered by Gumdrop Girl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay, well first off ultraviolet light is the only type of light that can actually kill bacteria. It does this by causing what are called "mutations" in the DNA of the bacteria, and these are almost always fatal. Imagine if you were an embryo growing to become a baby, and UV light hit you and "mutated" your DNA so that you could not develop a stomach. You wouldn't last long after that! Next, there are 3 different types of UV light, A, B, and C. UVC is by far the worst as far as killing bacteria AND having the ability to cause skin cancer in humans. So, interestingly enough, UVA is most commonly used in tanning beds, since it will not cause cancer. Last, the other poster was right, anaerobic and aerobic has nothing to do with it. An anaerobic bacteria cannot live in the presence of oxygen, so if it is living under your skin it is safe, but if it tries to live on the outside, it would die. Aerobic bacteria cannot live without oxygen, so they would die under your skin but live on your skin. Aerobic bacteria love oxygen because they have 2 enzymes, catalase and superoxide dismutase that help them break down the oxygen and compounds associated with it. Anaerobic bacteria lack both of these enzymes. Hope you can school your mom on some information now! Good luck.
2007-03-31 09:24:15 · answer #2 · answered by gabe_library 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-08-27 09:31:38 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You question makes no sense to me.
Your mom's an RPH.....why do you doubt her?
2007-03-31 18:14:47 · answer #4 · answered by jloertscher 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋