How Do You Classify Bacteria And Viruses?
Understanding the basic characteristics of viruses and bacteria can go a long way in helping you understand their behavior, as well as the proper treatment for their removal. The two terms are used very commonly, yet few people know the difference between them. Here’s how to distinguish bacteria from viruses. Determine the size of the microorganism you are looking at. Both of them are very tiny organisms that are measured in micrometers or microns. It takes about 25,000 microns to make up one inch, so you can only see them with a high-powered microscope. Bacteria tend to be about .5 microns at the smallest and up to 2 or 3 microns for the larger ones. Viruses by contrast are quite a bit smaller, measured in nanometers, and can only be seen under an electron microscope Watch their behavior. Viruses can only live within a host cell. They are basically parasites, bringing their own strands of DNA or RNA into the host cell and taking over. If you isolate them from fresh host cells, they ca
