Definition
The biological mechanisms of living hosts and individual cells to limit virus infection and replication.
Characteristics
Individual cells in all kingdoms of life, including bacteria and other unicellular organisms, as well as plants and animals have evolved mechanisms to ward of virus infection and to restrict virus dissemination between and within cells. These antiviral defenses operate either through intracellular mechanisms or through the action of other cells or extracellular molecules, such as cells of the immune system and antibodies.
Evolution
Several theories on the origin of life have been presented. Irrespective of molecular causality, most theories eventually converge on the emergence of compartmentalized life to provide self-replicating information an advantage in a hostile environment. Paralleling emergence of the first cells, viruses likely exerted evolutionary pressure necessitating means to restrict excessive and self-annihilating replication. On one hand,...
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References
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Vähä-Koskela, M. (2014). Antiviral Defenses. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7161-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_7161-5
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9
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