2007-03-19 11:41:01 · 9 answers · asked by sexyatl 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
no, they need a host cell
"Viruses can replicate themselves only by infecting a host cell. They therefore cannot reproduce on their own"
2007-03-19 11:44:52 · answer #1 · answered by Flower 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can Viruses Reproduce Independently
2017-01-16 11:50:47 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
2
2016-08-22 14:37:39 · answer #3 · answered by Calandra 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No; viruses must have a host in order to reproduce. The host is "infected" with the viral DNA; when the host cell reproduces, the DNA is replicated, and more virus cells are produced as a result.
2007-03-19 12:03:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Short answer: "No, absolutely not"
Longer answer:
Whilst viruses may survive out of a host for varying amount of time they, unlike other organisms, posses neither the cellular apparatus nor the genomic complexity required for truly independent survival.
Even the simplest cell contains a huge number of molecules required for its ongoing operation. It has ribosome’s for protein synthesis, a cell membrane, and possesses a hugely complex interacting network of proteins regulating everything going on within the cell from pH to osmotic pressure.
Most cells posses a huge number of genes, your cells for example posses more than 20 000 coding for over 40 000 proteins. An incredibly simplified cell may be able to survive with a thousand or so genes.
Viruses do not have any ribosomes, they have membranes but they are much simpler than their cellular counterparts, and their is very little, if any, protein / protein interaction occurring within the viron. Viruses also posses far fewer genes, with simple ones possessing 4, and even the most complex containing just over 100. HIV for example has 9.
Because of their simplicity viruses require the cellular machinery of another organism in order to reproduce. Whilst viruses may use a variety of methods they usually function by "tricking" their host cell into believing that the viral genetic material is important to the host cell, promoting it's translation into protein.
2007-03-19 11:44:03 · answer #5 · answered by alexjcharlton 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The genomes of viruses do not code for all of the components needed for viral replication (for example, the viral genomes do not code for ribosomes which are essential for the synthesis of viral proteins). Therefore, viruses cannot reproduce independently of a host.
2007-03-19 11:48:51 · answer #6 · answered by Yggdrasil 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No they need to have a "host cell". All viruses are parasitic in nature, using the Genetic materials of the host cell to duplicate.
2007-03-19 11:50:15 · answer #7 · answered by TJTB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, they need a host cell or a bacterium to reproduce
2007-03-19 11:48:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no they need a cells resources
2007-03-19 14:12:37 · answer #9 · answered by wesnaw1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋