host cells
Virus's living quarters
Host cells are cells that harbor or support another organism, typically a virus, parasite, or bacterium.
In virology, a host cell provides the machinery a virus needs to replicate—the virus hijacks cellular processes to reproduce itself.
The virus binds to receptors on the host cell before entering.
In parasitology, host cells are those invaded by intracellular parasites.
The term appears frequently in discussions of infection, immunity, and genetic engineering.
- mitochondriaCell's energy-producing organelles
- virusesSubmicroscopic infectious particles
- parasitesOrganisms feeding off hosts
- bacterial infectionIllness from harmful microorganisms
- cytoplasmGel surrounding the nucleus
nucleus · ribosome · eukaryotic · chromosome · erythrocytes · receptor · pathogenicity · transfection · immune response · vectors · gene · gene expression · bacteria · viral replication · membrane · viral genome · lymphocytes · macrophages
- Genetic Engineeringcloning, CRISPR, gene splicing, gene therapy, gene transfer
- protein biotechnologyproteins, protein synthesis, protein folding, biopharmaceuticals, bioprocessing
- microbiologybacteria, bacterium, microbe, microbes, microorganisms
- transplantsorgan transplant, liver transplant, bone marrow transplant, kidney transplant, heart transplant