How do viruses reproduce?

• A. Using a host cell and the lytic cycle
• B. Binary fission
• C. Spores
• D. Independent replication

Answer: (A)

Viruses reproduce by hijacking a host cell’s machinery to make more viral particles. They don’t have their own metabolic systems or the ability to divide on their own, so they must enter a living cell and use that cell’s enzymes and ribosomes to copy their genetic material and assemble new viruses. In the lytic cycle, a virus attaches to a susceptible cell, injects its genome, and the cell’s machinery is used to produce viral components, which are then assembled into new viruses. The cell eventually bursts (lyses), releasing those new virions to infect other cells. Other options describe processes used by cellular organisms or survival strategies, which viruses do not perform independently.