EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Viruses are tiny infectious agents that rely on living cells to multiply. They may use an animal, plant, or bacteria host to survive and reproduce. As such, there is some debate as to whether or not viruses should be considered living organisms. A virus that is outside of a host cell is known as a virion.

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: -A host cell is a cell that harbors foreign molecules, viruses, or microorganisms. It may also be a cell that has been introduced with DNA (or RNA), such as a bacterial cell acting as a host cell for the DNA isolated from a bacteriophage.

Detailed explanation-4: -Viruses survive outside our bodies because of how they are built. Specifically, they are pieces of genetic material (RNA or DNA) contained in a special coating of proteins called capsids. Viruses cannot replicate unless absorbed by cells in our body.

Detailed explanation-5: -They do not possess ribosomes and cannot independently form proteins from molecules of messenger RNA. Because of these limitations, viruses can replicate only within a living host cell.