Viral Reproduction

Viruses are simply a strand of genetic material, either DNA or RNA, encapsulated in an outer protein shell, and sometimes a membrane. They cannot reproduce on their own or perform basic cellular tasks like protein synthesis, so most people do not consider them to be living organisms. Viruses reproduce by hijacking the replication machinery of a host cell. They transfer their genome into the cell of another organism, integrate their DNA sequence into the host DNA, and let the host cell replicate, transcribe and translate their genes. Viral genomes contain genes for directing the replication and packaging of complete copies of the virus, so that eventually, the host cell bursts open and releases new viruses to infect other cells.