1. Proteins are a chain sequence of amino acids, each link one of 20ish possibilities 2. These chains need to be folded in the right way for them to work properly 3. When they shape gets messed up, usually it just stops working (like when you fry an egg)
I'm not sure about this; protein folding is deeply tricky shit that generally requires enormous amounts of compute to understand via simulation (cf folding@home) Have an idea tho sec But also yes: it's completely unlike viruses (which hijack normal cell function to reproduce),
-
-
or bacterial or endoparasites (which are separate living things that got inside you and are running amok) But they are similar in that they're self-replicating Things that use humans as a host and can be communicated from one human to another (Compare: memes)
-
This Tweet is unavailable.
- Show replies
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.