I'm not sure that it needs a purpose beyond seeing that its genetic material is reproduced.
No where. A virus is not a cell.
What a cell and a virus have in common is the RNA or DNA. The virus can be either a RNA virus or a DNA virus.
The cell infected by a virus is referred to as the host cell. The virus hijacks the host cell's machinery to replicate and produce more virus particles.
A virus.
Both a living cell and a virus contain nucleic acid. The virus has a capsid, whereas a living cell does not.
The cell invaded by the virus is called a host cell because it provides the environment and resources necessary for the virus to replicate and multiply. The virus uses the host cell's machinery to produce more viruses, ultimately leading to the destruction of the host cell.
A virus will replicate within a host cell.
It has no nucleus, though technically a virus is not a cell at all.
It is called a host cell. The virus attaches to the cell and injects its DNA into the cell. The virus's DNA overruns the "instructions" that the cell has and "tells" the cell to make copies of the virus using the DNA. Then the cell makes so many copies of the virus, that it explodes. The new viruses then go on to attach to other cells.
a virus
A virus and a cell have to have matching "docking" proteins for the virus to invade. Otherwise the virus is blocked.
A virus affects humans by invading a cell. The virus then forces the cell to produce viral material rather than cell material. This causes the cell to replicate the virus rather than itself.