General Characteristics
- Do not fit the six-kingdom system because they do not display most of the characteristics of living
 cells. - are selective and in most cases enter only into specific host cells
- have a highly specialized relationship with their hosts meaning they infect only bacteria, only animals, or only plants
Diseases caused by viruses
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Anatomical and Physiological Characteristics
- Range in size from about 20 to 400 nm in diameter.
- nonliving microscopic particles capable of reproducing only in living cells.
- Consists of a nucleic core (containing either DNA or RNA genetic material) and a protein capsid.
Viral Vectors and Gene Therapy
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On September 14, 1990, gene therapy was used on a human patient
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In the early 1980s, scientists successfully transferred genes into mammalian cells by using viral vectors
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Viral vectors are when the bad genes of the virus are removed and replaced with the genes to be transferred.
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The vector enters a cell and deposits the new gene in the chromosome of that cell.
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The gene remains in the cell as long as the cell survives and is passed onto daughter cells
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