Only Be Seen Using An Electron Microscope

The word virus comes from the Latin, namely virion or venom which means poison. Viruses are a sub-cellular organization because they are so small they can only be seen using an electron microscope. Even the smallest bacteria are capable of being infected by viruses. Viruses reproduce by means of replication (self-reproduction), within the host cell. For viral replication only nucleic acid is required. The material needed for the synthesis of viral proteins comes from the host cell or the host. The virus reproduction process consists of five stages, namely adsorption, penetration, synthesis (ecliphase), maturation and lysis. Based on this definition, viruses are categorized as not living things. The characteristics of viruses are that they cannot carry out their own metabolism, cannot replicate without a host cell, do not grow, and do not respond to their environment. Viruses can be used in genetic engineering technology (manipulation of genetic information), for example for gene therapy. Gene therapy is an effort to improve genetic information by improving the arrangement of nitrogenous bases in the DNA strands in genes.