Asked by mm

Studies show that the virus responsible for the common cold loses its ability to infect a host after 7 days outside of a host on objects like stainless steel. After 7 days, the dry surface of the stainless steel damages the viral envelope, at which point the virus is no longer contagious.

Which characteristic of living things does the common cold virus lack?

Responses

need for energy to grow
need for energy to grow

ability to respond to a stimulus
ability to respond to a stimulus

maintenance of homeostasis
maintenance of homeostasis

ability to reproduce
ability to reproduce

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
ability to reproduce

Viruses cannot reproduce independently — they must infect a host cell and use the host's machinery to replicate.