Skip to main content

Viral Genome Types: DNA and RNA

This video presents the same text shown beside it, spoken and on screen. It adds nothing the text does not say.

State

Unlike cellular life, which always uses DNA, a viral genome may be DNA or RNA, single- or double-stranded, linear or circular.

Show

Herpesviruses carry double-stranded DNA genomes; influenza carries a segmented, single-stranded RNA genome.

Watch for

Do not assume every virus stores its genes as double-stranded DNA the way cells do — genome type must be determined, not presumed.