What is a Virus Made of?
What is a virus made of?
When you have a cold or flu, your body is being invaded by a virus. Viruses are small packages of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by protein coatings. Some viruses also have lipid envelopes surrounding their protein shells. Viruses are much smaller than cells (0.04 to 0.07 millimeters compared with one to 10 millimeters for cells). Viruses are not considered organisms because they cannot reproduce or metabolize on their own. Instead, a virus requires a host cell to replicate, or to produce copies of itself. These host cells come from your cells and viruses infect the host cells in the following manner…


























