Viruses, although not considered to be alive, attack host cells and cause disease. the attack of a host cell is necessary for the virus to survive for all of the reasons listed except one. that is a) they cannot synthesize proteins because they lack ribosomes and must use the ribosomes of their host cells to translate viral messenger rna into new proteins. b) they cannot produce or store energy in the form of atp and have to get their energy from the host cell. c) they parasitize the host cell for basic molecules like amino acids, nucleotides, and lipids. d) they lack dna so they must use the dna of the host cell. elimin