We just reviewed a list of eight characteristics of life. do any of
these characteristics apply to the viruses that cause the common
cold? would you describe viruses as "living organisms"? why or why
not?

Viruses are not living. They do not become alive until they attach to a cell. Viruses don't grow, and they can't make their own energy. Even though they replicate and adapt to their environment, without cells, viruses would not be able to multiply. Therefore viruses could not be classified as living.

answer; /// the correct )

step 1: initiation

initiation is the beginning of transcription. it occurs when the enzyme rna polymerase binds to a region of a gene called the promoter. this signals the dna to unwind so the enzyme can ‘‘read’’ the bases in one of the dna strands. the enzyme is now ready to make a strand of mrna with a complementary sequence of bases.

step 2: elongation

elongation is the addition of nucleotides to the mrna strand. rna polymerase reads the unwound dna strand and builds the mrna molecule, using complementary base pairs. there is a brief time during this process when the newly formed rna is bound to the unwound dna. during this process, an adenine (a) in the dna binds to an uracil (u) in the rna.

step 3: termination

termination is the ending of transcription, and occurs when rna polymerase crosses a stop (termination) sequence in the gene. the mrna strand is complete, and it detaches from dna.