ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some aspects of viral replication that are important for the argument. The description of the viral systems is intended to serve as an introduction to the main approaches that have been used to study viral genome analogues. The chapter summarizes knowledge on the viral replication of two classes of RNA viruses: bacteriophages and oncogenic animal viruses. Clearly, there is some experimental evidence that viral replication can be blocked by polymers that, to some extent, imitate the viral templates. The Ribo Nucleic Acid (RNA) bacteriophages belong to the simplest class of viruses, and this makes them one of the best models for the study of events that happen during viral infection. The in vitro replication of some RNA viruses, including oncogenic RNA viruses, can be inhibited by polymers that are, to a certain degree, similar to the viral genomes.
