NEET BIOLOGY

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.

Detailed explanation-2: -Viruses have several common characteristics: they are small, have DNA or RNA genomes, and are obligate intracellular parasites. The virus capsid functions to protect the nucleic acid from the environment, and some viruses surround their capsid with a membrane envelope.

Detailed explanation-3: -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-4: -Cells have a double stranded DNA molecule and many strands of single stranded RNA as the copies. Viruses, however, can have double stranded DNA, single stranded DNA, double stranded RNA, or single stranded RNA. They convert RNA to DNA and then back to RNA to make proteins, which does not happen inside cells.

Detailed explanation-5: -The essential components of infectious viral particles are nucleic acid (the genome) and protein. In addition, all enveloped viruses contain lipid in the envelope and carbohydrate in their glycoprotein peplomers (as well as that in the nucleic acid).