A virus is a microscopic infectious agent that can only replicate inside the living cells of organisms. Unlike cells, viruses lack cellular structures and cannot carry out metabolic processes on their own. They reproduce by infecting a host cell, injecting their genetic material, and hijacking the cell's machinery to produce new virus particles. In contrast to cells or multicellular organisms, viruses are acellular and do not possess a cellular membrane or organelles. Additionally, while cells can reproduce independently through cellular division, viruses require a host for reproduction. Overall, viruses are fundamentally different from living cells in their structure and reproductive methods.
In the space below, answer the following questions for half of the points for this discussion.What is a virus?How does a virus reproduce?What are 2-3 differences between a virus and a cell or multicellular organism?
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