Difference between revisions of "Disease vector"

Revision as of 16:48, July 3, 2007

A Vector is an agent, such as a virus or a small piece of DNA called a plasmid, that carries a modified or foreign gene. When used in gene therapy, a vector delivers the desired gene to a target cell.

Sources

http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?key=vector

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-==Biology==
 A '''Vector''' is an agent, such as a virus or a small piece of [[DNA]] called a [[plasmid]], that carries a modified or foreign gene. When used in gene therapy, a vector delivers the desired gene to a target cell.
-==Mathematics==
-Vectors in the spatial sense are similar to an arrow in a coordinate system, and can be thought of as initial point proceeding to a terminal point. They are often represented as follows:
-<math>\overrightarrow{AB}</math>
-All vectors are constituted by what are called ''components.'' For instance, a vector in the three dimensional co-ordinate system would have separate components for the x, y, and z dimensions. When broken up into these individual components, it is possible to perform the same mathematical operations as can be performed on [[scalar]] quantities.
-===Parallelogram Rule===
-When first studying the mathematics of vectors, it's often convenient to visualize them in their "arrow" form. In this form, the addition and subtraction of vectors can be accomplished by arranging the two vector arrows together. For addition, the terminal point of one vector may be lined up with the initial point of the other vector. The sum of the two vectors would be equivalent to the vector from the initial point of the first vector to the terminal point of the second vector. This relationship is often referred to as the ''parallelogram'' rule, because if you start with [[orthogonal]] vectors, as long as the vectors originates from the same point, it doesn't matter which vector lies first - you will always reach the same terminal point. The two ways of permutations of the arrangements of the vectors, when drawn together, will form a [[parallelogram]].
-===Equality===
-Vectors are equal when they have equal magnitudes and directions. This does not necessarily mean they have to be the same vector; vectors that have different initial and terminating points may be equal, given their magnitudes and directions are still held constant.
-===Magnitude===
-The [[magnitude]] of a vector can be determined by calculating the length of the vector. For vectors in two dimensions, this can be easy to determine, using the x and y components of the vector and then calculating the linear distance the vector traverses using the [[distance formula]] (derived from the [[Pythagorean Theorem]]): <math>\left\|\mathbf{u}\right\|=\sqrt{{u_1}^2+{u_2}^2}</math>. The magnitude of vectors in higher dimensional planes can calculated by utilizing the Euclidian norm, or by simply adding the squares of each subsequent component to the linear distance formula.
-It should be noted that the vector of magnitude 0 is known as the ''identity vector,'' because the sum of this vector and any other vector will equal that vector.
-===Direction===
-It is convenient to refer to the direction of a vector in terms of an angle formed by the horizontal plane and the vector. In these terms, the angle can be calculated by taking the arctangent of the ratio of the y-component to the x-component. Direction is typically given in degrees, unless dealing with [[polar]] vectors.
-==Physics==
-Vectors can be any quantity that has both a direction and a magnitude, such as [[acceleration]], [[velocity]], or [[force]]. Many forces related to fields also can be described with vectors, such as [[gravity]] and [[magnetism]].
 == Sources ==
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 [[Category:Genetics]]
-[[Category:Mathematics]]
-[[Category:Biology]]
-[[Category:Physics]]

Difference between revisions of "Disease vector"

Revision as of 16:48, July 3, 2007

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