What are viruses primarily composed of?

What are viruses primarily composed of?

• A. Enzymes and ribosomes
• B. Nucleic acid and a protein capsule
• C. Lipids and carbohydrates
• D. Cellular organelles

Answer: (B)

Viruses are built from genetic material wrapped in a protective protein shell called a capsid. In some cases, an outer lipid envelope from the host cell may surround this core, but the essential components are nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and the protein capsule. They don’t carry cellular organelles or the machinery (like ribosomes) to make proteins themselves, and they aren’t primarily made of lipids and carbohydrates. So the description of nucleic acid with a protein capsule best captures what viruses are composed of.

Viruses are built from genetic material wrapped in a protective protein shell called a capsid. In some cases, an outer lipid envelope from the host cell may surround this core, but the essential components are nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and the protein capsule. They don’t carry cellular organelles or the machinery (like ribosomes) to make proteins themselves, and they aren’t primarily made of lipids and carbohydrates. So the description of nucleic acid with a protein capsule best captures what viruses are composed of.