EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Viruses are not made out of cells, they can’t keep themselves in a stable state, they don’t grow, and they can’t make their own energy. Even though they definitely replicate and adapt to their environment, viruses are more like androids than real living organisms.

Detailed explanation-2: -All viruses have genetic material (a genome) made of nucleic acid. You, like all other cell-based life, use DNA as your genetic material.

Detailed explanation-3: -RNA viruses replicate their genomes via one of two unique pathways-either by RNA-dependent RNA synthesis, or among the retroviruses, by RNA-dependent DNA synthesis (reverse transcription) followed by DNA replication and transcription.

Detailed explanation-4: -Viruses have the following non-living characteristics: They don’t have cytoplasm or cellular organelles, and they’re not cells. Within the infected host cell, new viruses are produced and assembled. The viruses are inactive outside of the host.

Detailed explanation-5: -Viruses are considered to be nonliving. How are they similar to living organisms, and how are they different? Viruses resemble organisms because they can multiply. They are different because they are not alive: they are not cells, they do not use their own energy to grow or respond to their surroundings.