Biology / Unit 9 Bio 1938 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Subviral Agents: Prions and Viroids
Captions available
The idea
A subviral agent infects without a standard virion: a prion is protein alone, and a viroid is a short circular RNA with no protein coat.
In practice
A prion templates a normal protein into its own misfolded shape; a viroid is copied by the host's own enzymes.
Where people slip
They are mirror images, and neither fits the definition of a virus.
Your place on the trail
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