Viruses: Basics
- There are many common diseases caused by viruses; for example, the common cold and the flu are caused by viruses
- Viruses do not fulfil the 7 life processes, therefore, they are not usually classified as living organisms
- Viruses do not have nuclei, organelles, or cytoplasm like cells do, and so they have no way to monitor or create change in their internal environment
- Viruses reproduce rapidly by inserting their genetic material into host cells and creating new protein capsules to build new viral particles
- Once many copies have been made, the host cell may burst open releasing the viral particles which can go on to infect other cells