Sohn, Emily. 2008. Ready, unplug, drive. Science News for Kids, Oct. 29. Available at http://sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20081029/Feature1.asp

Sohn, Emily. 2007. A better flu shot. Science News for Kids, April 18. Available at http://sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20070418/Note2.asp

Sohn, Emily. 2004. The Incredible Shrunken Kids. Science News for Kids, June 9. Available at http://sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040609/Feature1.asp

(adapted from Britannica online and the Yahoo! Kids Dictionary, also The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language Fourth Edition)

virus: Any of a number of parasites of plants, animals, and bacteria that often cause disease and that consist essentially of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat. Unable to replicate without a host cell, viruses are typically not considered living organisms.

electrode: An electric conductor, usually metal, used as either of the two terminals of an electrically conducting medium. It conducts current into and out of the medium, which may be an electrolytic solution as in a battery.

genetic material: Nucleic acid, inside a cell or a virus, that acts like a recipe. It tells the cell what to do. When a virus invades a cell, the virus’s genetic material takes over the cell to reproduce.