iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Vector (biology)

In epidemiology, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another.

A classic example is the anopheles mosquito which acts as a vector for the disease malaria by transmitting the malarial parasite plasmodium to humans. In this case plasmodium is harmless to the mosquito (its intermediate host) but causes the disease malaria in humans (its definitive host).

In molecular biology and genetic engineering a vector is a vehicle for transferring genetic material into a cell.

A viral vector is a virus which has been modified to transduct specific genetic material into a cell, e.g. for gene therapy.

A plasmid vector is made by splicing a DNA construct into a plasmid. Various techniques are then used to transfect the plasmid into the cell.

Epidemiology

There are two types of vector that convey infectious organisms to a host: mechanical and biological. Microbes do not multiply within mechanical vectors - mechanical vectors only physically transport microbes from host to host. In contrast, microbes must propagate within a biological vector before the biological vector can transmit the microbes.

Cell transformation and gene therapy

DNA

See also

References

  • "Vector Control", World Health Organization, Global Malaria Programme. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
  • "Malaria Glossary", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. 
Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine.
..... Click the link for more information.
Plantae
  • Chromalveolata
  • Heterokontophyta
  • Haptophyta
  • Cryptophyta
  • Alveolata

  • ..... Click the link for more information.
    • disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions. In human beings, "disease" is often used more broadly to refer to any condition that causes discomfort, dysfunction, distress, social problems, and/or death to the person afflicted, or similar problems
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host's resources to multiply (usually at the expense of the host).
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host.[1] The term is most often used for agents that disrupt the normal physiology of a multicellular animal or plant.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    In biology, a host is an organism that harbors a virus or parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Malaria
    Classification & external resources

    Plasmodium falciparum ring-forms and gametocytes in human blood.
    ICD-10 B 50.
    ICD-9 084

    OMIM 248310
    DiseasesDB 7728
    MedlinePlus 000621
    eMedicine med/1385   emerg/305 ped/1357
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A plasmodium is also the macroscopic form of the protist known as a slime mould.

    Plasmodium



    Scientific classification

    Domain: Eukaryota
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A plasmodium is also the macroscopic form of the protist known as a slime mould.

    Plasmodium



    Scientific classification

    Domain: Eukaryota
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    In parasitology, an intermediate host is an organism inside which a parasite does not sexually reproduce. It may grow or reproduce asexually, but there is no exchange of genetic material between individuals.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Malaria
    Classification & external resources

    Plasmodium falciparum ring-forms and gametocytes in human blood.
    ICD-10 B 50.
    ICD-9 084

    OMIM 248310
    DiseasesDB 7728
    MedlinePlus 000621
    eMedicine med/1385   emerg/305 ped/1357
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    In parasitology, an intermediate host is an organism inside which a parasite does not sexually reproduce. It may grow or reproduce asexually, but there is no exchange of genetic material between individuals.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell,
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Genetic engineering, recombinant DNA technology, genetic modification/manipulation (GM) and gene splicing are terms that are applied to the direct manipulation of an organisms genes.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Viral vectors are a tool commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells. This process can be performed inside a living organism (in vivo) or in cell culture (in vitro).
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Transduction is the process by which bacterial DNA is moved from one bacterium to another by a virus.

    When bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) infect a bacterial cell, their normal mode of reproduction is to harness the DNA replication machinery of the host
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cells and tissues to treat a disease, and hereditary diseases in which a defective mutant allele is replaced with a functional one. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it has been used with some success.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A DNA construct (pronounced CON struct, with the first syllable emphasized) is an artificially constructed segment of nucleic acid that is going to be "transplanted" into a target tissue or cell.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    A plasmid is a DNA molecule separate from the chromosomal DNA and capable of autonomous replication. It is typically circular and double-stranded. It usually occurs in bacteria, sometimes in eukaryotic organisms (e.g.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Transfection describes the introduction of foreign material into eukaryotic cells. Transfection typically involves opening transient pores or 'holes' in the cell plasma membrane, to allow the uptake of material.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    MOSQUITO is a stream cypher algorithm designed by Joan Daemen and Paris Kitsos. It has been submitted to the eSTREAM Project of the eCRYPT network.


    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Malaria
    Classification & external resources

    Plasmodium falciparum ring-forms and gametocytes in human blood.
    ICD-10 B 50.
    ICD-9 084

    OMIM 248310
    DiseasesDB 7728
    MedlinePlus 000621
    eMedicine med/1385   emerg/305 ped/1357
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    St. Louis Encephalitis Virus

    St. Louis Encephalitis is a disease caused by the mosquito borne St. Louis Encephalitis virus. St. Louis encephalitis virus is related to Japanese encephalitis virus. This disease mainly affects the United States.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Dengue fever
    Classification & external resources

    ICD-10 A 90.
    ICD-9 061

    DiseasesDB 3564
    MedlinePlus 001374
    eMedicine med/528  

    MeSH C02.782.417.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus of the family Flaviviridae; part of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Siphonaptera (but see text)
    Latreille, 1825

    Infraorders

    Ceratophyllomorpha
    Hystrichopsyllomorpha
    Pulicomorpha
    Pygiopsyllomorpha

    Synonyms

    Aphaniptera

    Flea
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Bubonic Plague
    Classification & external resources

    Yersinia pestis'' seen at 2000x magnification with a fluorescent label. This bacterium, carried and spread by fleas, is the cause of the various forms of the disease plague.
    ICD-10 A 20.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Ixodoidea

    Families

    Ixodidae - Hard ticks
    Argasidae - Soft ticks
    Nuttalliellidae - ????? ticks

    Tick is the common name for the small arachnids that, along with other mites, constitute the order Acarina.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Lyme disease
    Classification & external resources

    Nymphal and adult deer ticks can be carriers of Lyme disease. Nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed.

    ICD-9 088.
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    R. rickettsii

    Binomial name
    Rickettsia rickettsii
    Wolbach, 1919

    Classification & external resources

    ICD-10 A 77.0
    ICD-9 082.
    ..... Click the link for more information.


    This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
    Herod_Archelaus


    page counter