EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -All viruses have genetic material (a genome) made of nucleic acid. You, like all other cell-based life, use DNA as your genetic material. Viruses, on the other hand, may use either RNA or DNA, both of which are types of nucleic acid.

Detailed explanation-2: -Viruses contain either RNA or DNA as their genetic material. DNA in most organisms is a double-stranded structure, based on Watson and Crick pairing; however, in viruses, DNA and RNA can be either single-stranded or double-stranded.

Detailed explanation-3: -Concept 25 Some viruses store genetic information in RNA. So it came as a surprise when in 1971, it was discovered that some viruses shift their genetic information from RNA to DNA. Even so, these viruses ultimately make proteins in the same way as higher organisms.

Detailed explanation-4: -DNA viruses comprise important pathogens such as herpesviruses, smallpox viruses, adenoviruses, and papillomaviruses, among many others.

Detailed explanation-5: -The human genome contains billions of pieces of information and around 22, 000 genes, but not all of it is, strictly speaking, human. Eight percent of our DNA consists of remnants of ancient viruses, and another 40 percent is made up of repetitive strings of genetic letters that is also thought to have a viral origin.