Virus Characteristics

What would happen to a virus if it couldn't find a host cell to invade?

• It would not be able to multiply.

• It would not be able to travel through the air.

• It's genetic information would disappear.

• It would not be able to exist.

What do viruses have in common with your body's cells?

• Their genetic information is surrounded by a nucleus.

• They contain many complex organelles.

• They contain DNA or RNA

• They are surrounded by a protein coat known as a capsid.

What is the difference between DNA and RNA?

• RNA is a more complex molecule than DNA.

• RNA contains genetic information, DNA does not.

• DNA is a more complex molecule than RNA.

• DNA contains genetic information, RNA does not.

What's the difference between a pathogenic virus and a harmless one?

• Pathogenic viruses make copies of themselves, a harmless one does not.

• Pathogenic viruses get inside a cell, harmless ones do not.

• Pathogenic viruses are surrounded by capsids, harmless ones are not.

• Pathogenic viruses end up killing cells; harmless one do not.

Which of the following is a true statement about viruses?

• They can only spread through person-to-person contact.

• They can be spread in a number of different ways.

• All of them are harmful to humans.

• They can only be spread through exposure to animal waste.

What does a virus do once it's inside one of your cells?

• It stays inside for awhile and then leaves.

• It eats up all the machinery inside the cell.

• It uses the cell's machinery to make copies of itself.

• It prevents ATP from being produced in the cell.

What can you infer about the virus that causes the common cold?

• It is completely harmless.

• It is pathogenic, but not usually deadly.

• It is not spread from person to person.

• It is very deadly.

A biological agent that consists of nucleic acid and a protein coat. It is not a cell, nor is it considered alive

• Virus

• Bacteria

• Fungi

• Protista

All the genetic material inside a virus or a cell

• Protein

• Ribosome

• Nucleus

• Genome

The protein coat surrounding a virus

• Capsid

• Genome

• Bacteria

• Allele