Physical Principles in the Construction of Regular Viruses

Abstract

There are two key facts about viruses from which all consideration of their structure and functional organization must proceed. The first is that the essential infective agent of all viruses is a high molecular weight nucleic acid component— either deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA). Second, the nucleic acid molecule is contained in a protective package which serves to transmit this infectious agent in a functionally intact state through space and time to a susceptible host.