why do viruses try to kill the thing keeping them alive?
In: Biology
Viruses don’t “try” anything. Viruses require hosts to replicate. When they are in the right position the nature of their genetics allows them to be absorbed by a cell and they have the means to incorporate into the cell operations thus spitting out copies of the virus.
If there is so much replication that it overwhelms the host, the host can certainly die, however, most Viruses will shed from the host in various ways and get ejected into the environment where it can infect a new host and replicate more.
There is no advantage for the virus to ensure the host remains alive as they have already replicated and been expelled outside the body enough to continue its life cycle.
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