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To: BuckeyeTexan
That’s what viruses do. They mutate to survive.

Teleological fallacy.

12 posted on 09/10/2014 11:39:26 AM PDT by steve86 ( Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: steve86

Teleological fallacy.

<><><><<

Not in the slightest.

Demonstrably true by observation.


20 posted on 09/10/2014 12:03:51 PM PDT by dmz
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To: steve86
Teleological fallacy

How so?

Why do viruses mutate?

To survive: unlike plants, animals and other organisms, the only way a virus can reproduce is through a host cell, which it does by attaching its surface proteins to the cell's membrane and injecting its genetic material into the cell. This genetic material, either DNA or RNA, then carries with it the instructions to the cell's machinery to make more viruses. These new viruses then leave the cell and spread to other parts of the host organism.

But host organisms are not passive observers to this process, and over time a human's or pig's immune system can learn from these encounters and develop strategies to prevent reinfection. The next time the same virus comes to a host cell, it may find that it is no longer able to attach to the cell's surface membrane. So to survive, viruses must adapt or evolve, changing its surface proteins enough to trick the host cell into allowing it to attach.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/technology/faq-how-viruses-mutate-1.780051
52 posted on 09/12/2014 2:35:51 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. ~Steve Earle)
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