What is the Premise of the Progressive Hypothesis of Viral

Question

What is the premise of the progressive hypothesis of viral origin?
A)Viruses evolved from symbionts of cells.
B)Viruses evolved from self-replicating nucleic acid segments.
C)Viruses originated from cells that lost the ability to replicate.
D)Viruses were present when the first primordial cells evolved.
E)Viruses arose from fragmented DNA in a cell.

Accepted Answer

The progressive hypothesis of viral origin suggests that viruses evolved from self-replicating nucleic acid segments. This hypothesis proposes that these segments escaped from cellular chromosomes and developed the capacity to move between cells, eventually becoming independent replicating entities.