2021 · Q109
An antibiotic is not useful against a virus whereas a vaccine is. Which one of the following is the most appropriate reason for this?
General KnowledgeBiology
- AAn antibiotic can break RNA only, whereas virus has DNA.
- BAn antibiotic is a carbohydrate in its chemical nature, whereas a vaccine is a protein which works well to kill a virus.
- COnly a vaccine can break the genetic material of a virus.
- DA virus does not use biochemical pathways which can be blocked by an antibiotic. But a vaccine can boost an immune system to fight the virus.
Explanation
Antibiotics work by blocking specific biochemical pathways of bacteria (such as cell-wall or protein synthesis); viruses have no metabolic machinery of their own and hijack host cells, so there are no bacterial-type pathways for antibiotics to block. Vaccines instead train the immune system to recognise and neutralise the virus. The reason antibiotics fail against viruses is that the virus does not use biochemical pathways which can be blocked.