The Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Hasanuddin, held a guest lecture by presenting Professor Karyn Johnson from the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He is a virologist and expert researcher in the field of genetics. The activity took place at 10.00 WITA virtually through the Zoom meeting application on Thursday (14/10).
Prof. Karyn explained the general structure and life cycle of a virus, understanding viruses using the host cell’s machinery for replication, and ways on a host to survive and reproduce through the human body’s cells.
In further, Prof. Karyn added that viruses only had one type of nucleic acid enclosed within a capsid or protective protein coat. This nucleic acid is well-known as DNA or RNA. The size is tiny, between 25-300 nm (nanometers), with the body of the virus that is not in the form of a cell. Viruses can only live and reproduce in living cells or are also known as obligate intracellular parasites.
“There is more genetic diversity among viruses than all other forms of life, whose genomes are all composed of double-stranded DNA. The expression of viral genetic information depends on the structure of a particular virus genome. But, in each case, the genome must be recognized and expressed using the host cell mechanism,” explained Prof. Karin.
At the end of the session, the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy Unhas, Prof. Subehan, S.Si., M.Pharm.Sc., Ph.D., Apt., expressed his gratitude to the speakers who were willing to provide additional knowledge to the Pharmacy students of Unhas. After the Covid-19 pandemic, he hoped that Prof. Karyn could visit Unhas and meet directly with students.
He said that the Pharmacy Faculty of Universitas Hasanuddin continued to maximize its network with various partners, which was essential to improving research quality and collaboration.
Marningsih Sadik, S.S. and Kumara Tungga Dewa, S.S.
Editor : Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
