This coursework is about different types of infectious agents, the causes of non-infectious diseases and the relationship between disease progression and the effects of this on human health. And two cases studies are used in the coursework to go i to depth about the infections agents.
12A: Investigate different types of diseases and infections that can affect humans
Infectious and non-infectious diseases
Introduction
In this assignment the topic that will be discussed is the different types of diseases and
infections that can affect humans. What is covered in this assignment is where these
diseases come from (the type of pathogen that causes them), what causes them and what it
does to the humans that are affected by the disease and infections. What is also covered in
the assignment is the progression of infectious and non-infectious disease and how these
diseases impact the human's quality of life.
Pathogens and infectious diseases
Viruses are akaryotic they contain no nucleus, obligate intracellular parasites, tiny,
and contain DNA or RNA genomes. Some viruses encase their capsid with a membrane
envelope in order to further shield the nucleic acid from the outside world. In the image
shown below is an example of a virus (Coronavirus). Coronavirus is an example of a disease
from the pathogen virus. A life cycle of a virus is for it to replicate itself and the conditions
needed for it to survive it will first have to attach itself to a cell and penetrate it. Once the
virus is in the cell the replication of it begins to start so once the cell has been penetrated
the viral DNA enters the host cell and the replication begins there as the virus hijacks the
cell its DNA replication starts to take place. The conditions needed to for all it occurs are the
cells protein synthesis pathways because the virus lacks the requirements for itself to
replicate on its own hence the reason why it attaches itself on a host cell.
Bacteria Three distinguishing characteristics of bacteria are: their lack of membrane-bound
organelles, their unicellular, and their small (often microscopic) size. Not all prokaryotes are
bacteria; others are archaea, which, despite sharing some physical characteristics with
bacteria, are unrelated to bacteria in origin. the fluid that fills a cell, called cytoplasm. a cell's
, plasma or cell membrane, which serves as a wall. In ribosomes, proteins are assembled. An
example of a disease from the bacteria pathogen would be tuberculosis.
A life cycle of a bacteria consists of 4 phases known as the lag, log, stationery and death.
How the life cycle starts is the lag phase which is dependent on the conditions and the
environment around that essential to replication are vitamins and amino acids without this
division cannot begin. How the lag phase starts copies of the DNA are made and if the
environment supplies enough nutrients for the
The conditions that are needed are T temperature, acidity, energy sources, oxygen,
nitrogen, minerals, and water. The bacteria determine the best circumstances for growth.
Fungi - Only when sexual reproduction occurs do they produce diploid cells. The cells of
fungi have cell walls, just like those of protists and plants. But unlike other organisms, fungi
have chitin-based cell walls as opposed to cellulose. They spread spores to reproduce. The
phenomenon of generational alternation is seen in fungi. Since fungi lack chlorophyll, they
cannot engage in photosynthesis. An example of a disease caused by would Candidiasis. The
life cycle of a fungi has different ways of reproducing. One way of the life cycle is
sexual reproduction the first step in this process is the haploid stage. This means
that all the spores have only one copy of their genetic material. They can move
through the air or grab onto other organisms as they travel. Once they find a
suitable environment, they start developing their mycelium structures. Nutrients
are then transferred through these structures to help the development of new
spores. When mycelium develops, it may encounter another fungus. This
happens when the two fungi can fuse together. These two fungi then create a
new diploid cell by combining their haploid cells. These new cells have a lot of
genetic information. The last step in this cycle is meiosis. After the fungi has
become mycelium, we enter the meiosis phase of the cycle what happens is a
single cell will split and become two daughter cells these two cells do not have
identical features to the parent cells, and they also do not look similar to each
other. The other way is asexual reproduction how this life cycle starts is the
mycelium stage allows fungi to select whether they prefer to be asexual or
sexually active. Asexual life cycles in fungi lead to the development of Mito
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