(addition of RNA to bacteriophage description) |
(new forms of treatment, and phage adapted faster than the Vids could keep up.) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Image:Sulan.jpg|thumb|A Phage victim]] |
[[Image:Sulan.jpg|thumb|A Phage victim]] |
||
{{ep disambiguation|VOY}} |
{{ep disambiguation|VOY}} |
||
| − | The '''phage''' was a [[disease]] that afflicted the [[Vidiian]]s, killing thousands daily for approximately 2,000 years. The disease was highly adaptive to [[medicine|medical treatment]]. It consumed the Vidiians, at first disrupting their [[DNA|genetic code]], then devouring their body tissues and destroying [[cell (biology)|cellular structures]]. One of the early symptoms of the disease was excruciating joint pain. Some victims had been known to die simply from the agony itself, and [[euthanasia]] of afflicted persons was common. ({{VOY|Phage}}) |
+ | The '''phage''' was a [[disease]] that afflicted the [[Vidiian]]s, killing thousands daily for approximately 2,000 years. The disease was highly adaptive to nearly every new form of [[medicine|medical treatment]], and adapted so fast that their "immunotechnology (couldn't) keep up." It consumed the Vidiians, at first disrupting their [[DNA|genetic code]], then devouring their body tissues and destroying [[cell (biology)|cellular structures]]. One of the early symptoms of the disease was excruciating joint pain. Some victims had been known to die simply from the agony itself, and [[euthanasia]] of afflicted persons was common. ({{VOY|Phage}}) |
The Vidiians survived in the short term by making extensive use of transplantation and organ [[pirate|piracy]], using [[transporter]] [[technology]] to literally steal healthy organs from the bodies of their owners. Increasingly desperate, the Vidiians resorted to kidnapping members of other [[species]] and experimenting on them. |
The Vidiians survived in the short term by making extensive use of transplantation and organ [[pirate|piracy]], using [[transporter]] [[technology]] to literally steal healthy organs from the bodies of their owners. Increasingly desperate, the Vidiians resorted to kidnapping members of other [[species]] and experimenting on them. |
||
Revision as of 16:09, 4 December 2009
A Phage victim
The phage was a disease that afflicted the Vidiians, killing thousands daily for approximately 2,000 years. The disease was highly adaptive to nearly every new form of medical treatment, and adapted so fast that their "immunotechnology (couldn't) keep up." It consumed the Vidiians, at first disrupting their genetic code, then devouring their body tissues and destroying cellular structures. One of the early symptoms of the disease was excruciating joint pain. Some victims had been known to die simply from the agony itself, and euthanasia of afflicted persons was common. (VOY: "Phage")
The Vidiians survived in the short term by making extensive use of transplantation and organ piracy, using transporter technology to literally steal healthy organs from the bodies of their owners. Increasingly desperate, the Vidiians resorted to kidnapping members of other species and experimenting on them.
A Vidiian scientist, Sulan, believed that research into Klingon genetic material would eventually lead to a cure. (VOY: "Faces")
The phage had evidently been cured by 2375, by the group known as the Think Tank. (VOY: "Think Tank")
Background information
The term "phage" is short for bacteriophage. The term "phage" itself literally means "to eat." A bacteriophage is a virus that reproduces within a bacterium - it infects bacteria by attaching a hollow protein tail to a bacteria cell wall, injecting DNA (or sometimes, RNA) into the cell. Bacteriophages live at the expense of the bacteria they inhabit, and in most cases eventually kill their bacterial hosts.