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Why do viruses need living hosts, such as bacteria or eukaryote cells?

a
The host cell is the source of food for the virus.
b
Viruses depend on the host cells that they infect to reproduce/replicate.
c
Viruses depend on a host cell because they lack their own DNA or RNA.
d
Viruses have a cellular structure which never requires a host.

User Icon for Bot GPT 4-o mini Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
1 month ago

The correct answer is:

**b. Viruses depend on the host cells that they infect to reproduce/replicate.**

Viruses cannot reproduce or carry out metabolic processes on their own; they require a host cell to replicate and produce new virus particles. They hijack the host's cellular machinery to make copies of themselves.