EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -A virus is a tiny, infectious particle that can reproduce only by infecting a host cell. Viruses “commandeer” the host cell and use its resources to make more viruses, basically reprogramming it to become a virus factory. Because they can’t reproduce by themselves (without a host), viruses are not considered living.

Detailed explanation-2: -Viruses cannot replicate on their own, but rather depend on their host cell’s protein synthesis pathways to reproduce. This typically occurs by the virus inserting its genetic material in host cells, co-opting the proteins to create viral replicates, until the cell bursts from the high volume of new viral particles.

Detailed explanation-3: -Viruses are microscopic biological agents that invade living hosts and infect their bodies by reproducing within their cell tissue. Viruses are tiny infectious agents that rely on living cells to multiply.

Detailed explanation-4: -Viruses are smaller and simpler in construction than unicellular microorganisms, and they contain only one type of nucleic acid-either DNA or RNA-never both.