A virus is capable of

Answer 1

The primary significance of viruses lies in two areas. First, viruses destroy or modify the cells in which they multiply; they are potential pathogens capable of causing disease. Many of the most important diseases that afflict humankind, including rabies smallpox, poliomyelitis , hepatitis, influenza the common cold, measles, mumps, chickenpox herpes, Rubella hemorrhagic fevers, and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are caused by viruses. Viruses also cause diseases in livestock and plants that are of great economic importance. Second, viruses provide the simplest model systems for many basic problems in Biology. Their genomes are often no more than one-millionth the size of, for example, the human genome; yet the principles that govern the behavior of viral genes are the same as those that control the behavior of human genes. Viruses thus afford unrivaled opportunities for studying mechanisms that control the replication and expression of genetic material. == ==