EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -They are surrounded by a protein coat – capsid and have a nucleic acid core comprising DNA or RNA. They are considered both as living and non-living things. These viruses are inactive when they are present outside of host cells, but become active within host cells.

Detailed explanation-2: -Viruses are not living things. Viruses are complicated assemblies of molecules, including proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates, but on their own they can do nothing until they enter a living cell. Without cells, viruses would not be able to multiply. Therefore, viruses are not living things.

Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -(A) Virus capsids are composed of viral protein subunits that form structural units. The triangulation number (T) indicates the number of structural units per face of the icosahedron. In a T = 1 virus, one structural unit (composed of three different protein subunits: gray, red, and blue) create the icosahedron face.