Viruses Use the Host's Machinery to Make Copies of Themselves

question 6

Multiple Choice

Viruses use the host's machinery to make copies of themselves. However, some human viruses require a type of replication that humans do not normally do. For example, humans normally do not have the ability to convert RNA into DNA. How can these types of viruses infect humans, when human cells cannot perform a particular role that the virus requires?

• A) Viruses can stay in a quiescent state until the host cell evolves this ability.
• B) The virus infects only those cells and species that can perform all the replication roles necessary.
• C) The virus causes mutations in the human cells, resulting in the formation of new enzymes that are capable of performing these roles.
• D) The virus has in its own genome the code for any specialized enzymes that the host does not have.
• E) All of the above have been frequently observed.

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Definitions:

Instructions

Directives or commands that are followed to achieve a particular end, often detailed steps on how to complete a task or operate something.

Significance Level

The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis in a statistical test when it is actually true, typically denoted by alpha.

Rule of Five

A statistical rule of thumb asserting that normal approximation can be used if an expected frequency is 5 or more in all categories of a binomial distribution.

Chi-squared Goodness-of-fit Test

A statistical test to determine if observed data deviates significantly from the expected distribution.