|pagebody = Viruses are very simple organisms that rely on the host cell's biochemical machinery for sugar metabolism and protein synthesis- they are commonly described as 'obligate intracellular parasites.'
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|pagebody =A fully infective virus is called a viron. The genomes of viruses are much smaller than those found in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and in most viruses the nucleic acid is present in a single molecule. The genomes of viruses can be either single or double-stranded and viruses can contain either RNA or DNA. Due to this viruses can be catagorised into three main groups based on their nucleic acid composition; DNA viruses, RNA viruses and viruses which utilise both DNA and RNA for replication.