Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants, and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, about 5,000 virus species have been described in detail, although there are millions of types. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most abundant type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a sub-speciality of microbiology.

While not inside an infected cell or in the process of infecting a cell, viruses exist in the form of independent particles. These viral particles, also known as virions, consist of two or three parts: (i) the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry genetic information; (ii) a protein coat, called the capsid, which surrounds and protects the genetic material; and in some cases (iii) an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell. The shapes of these virus particles range from simple helical and icosahedral forms for some virus species to more complex structures for others. Most virus species have virions that are too small to be seen with an optical microscope. The average virion is about one one-hundredth the size of the average bacterium.

Obras Sanitarias

Club Atlético Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (known simply as Obras Sanitarias or Obras) is an Argentine sports club located in the district of Núñez, Buenos Aires. Although originally conceived as a rugby union club, Obras Sanitarias is mostly known for its basketball team, which currently plays in the Liga Nacional de Básquet, the first division of the Argentine basketball league system.

Apart from basketball, other disciplines practised at the club are rugby union, field hockey, swimming, tennis, volleyball and chess.

Obras Sanitarias has been nicknamed Los Tacheros, a lunfardo word used to refer to Argentine taxi drivers, due to taxi cabs are painted in black and yellow (the same colors that Obras' jersey uniform).

History

Obras Sanitarias was founded in 1917 by employees of the state-owned water supply company, Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (translatable in English to "Sanitation Works of the Nation").

On March 22, 1925, the club opened its sports facilities, allowing members to practise athletics, basque pelota, bowls, football, rugby union, swimming and tennis there. In 1941 Obras inaugurated its headquarters in the city of Buenos Aires for the practise of indoor sports.