Campbell 9th Chapter 19 Lecture Outline
Subject:
Chapter 19 Viruses Lecture Outline Overview: A Borrowed Life ? Viruses are the simplest biological systems. ? Most viruses are little more than aggregates of nucleic acids and protein?genes in a protein coat. ? Are viruses living or nonliving? ? Viruses cannot reproduce or carry out metabolic activities outside of a host cell. ? Most virologists would probably agree that viruses are not alive but lead ?a kind of borrowed life.? ? Molecular biology was born in the laboratories of microbiologists studying viruses that infect bacteria. ? Experiments with viruses provided key evidence that genes are made of nucleic acids. ? Viruses were critical in working out most of the major steps in DNA replication, transcription, and translation.
