Question

Making anti-viral drugs is more difficult than making anti-bacterial medicines because -

• A. Viruses make use of host machinery.
• B. Viruses are on the borderline between living and non-living.
• C. Viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own.
• D. Viruses have a protein coat.

Answer 1

The correct option is C

Viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own.

The correct option is C.

Explanation of the correct option:

1. Antiviral medications are more difficult to develop than antibacterial drugs because viruses have their own biochemical pathways.
2. Viruses infect cells and use their cellular machinery to carry out their own life processes.
3. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of viruses is difficult, so no antiviral drugs have been developed.

Explanation of the incorrect options:

Option A:

Viruses are small, non-cellular infectious bacteria that can only multiply via the machinery of the host cell.

Option B:

1. Viruses do not fit into the categories of living or non-living entities.
2. They have specific distinguishing characteristics from both living and non-living organisms.

Option D:

Viruses are made up of DNA (deoxyribonuclieacid) and RNA (ribonuclieacid), which are encased in a protein coat known as a capsid.

Final answer: Antiviral medications are more difficult to develop than antibacterial drugs because viruses have their own biochemical pathways.