Why is it easy for a virus to mutate?

Answer 1

Mutations are very common in all organisms. There are various mechanisms of repair in most cellular organisms that detect and correct these mutations both as they occur and afterwards.

Viruses are very simple organisms and contain very few proteins. Repair mechanisms are limited to the simplest mechanisms of the host cell. Since much fewer of the mutations are repaired, it is easy for a mutation to become permanently incorporated into a virus genome.

Viruses also frequently use single stranded DNA or RNA, in which case mutations are much harder to detect, even for the simple repair mechanisms that may take place during the host cell's replication processes.

Answer 2

Viruses mutate easily because they have a high mutation rate due to errors in their replication process. Additionally, viruses have short generation times which allows them to quickly accumulate mutations. Mutations can help viruses evade the immune system, adapt to new hosts or environments, and become more infectious.

Answer 3

they take over their host and turn it into a a little virus "factory".