Asked by guys

Why do viruses require living host cells to reproduce?
Question 5 options:

Viruses lack the cellular machinery for reproduction and metabolism

Viruses need oxygen from host cells for metabolic processes

Viruses are too large to reproduce independently in the environment

Viruses need chlorophyll from host cells for energy production

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Correct answer: Viruses lack the cellular machinery for reproduction and metabolism.

Explanation: Viruses consist mainly of nucleic acid and a protein coat and do not have ribosomes, metabolic enzymes, or energy-generating systems. They must enter living cells and hijack the host's replication, transcription, and translation machinery (and energy) to make new viral components. The other choices are incorrect: viruses don't need oxygen or chlorophyll, and they are not too large—actually they're much smaller than cells.