Although viruses can have RNA and/or DNA, they do not qualify as living things because:

• A. They cannot reproduce unless they infect living cells
• B. They can survive without a host indefinitely
• C. They have no genetic material
• D. They are larger than cells

Answer: (B)

Viruses aren’t considered living because they cannot carry out the basics of life on their own. They lack metabolism and energy production, so they don’t synthesize proteins or generate energy without a host cell. Reproduction happens only after a virus infects a living cell and uses that cell’s machinery to copy its genetic material and assemble new virus particles. Outside a host, a virus is essentially inert and cannot replicate.

This is why the idea of a virus surviving indefinitely without a host isn’t accurate. They can persist for some time in the environment, but without a host to hijack, they don’t replicate or sustain life processes.

The other statements don’t fit: viruses do have genetic material (RNA or DNA), many are much smaller than cells, and their viability outside a host is limited rather than indefinite.