Making anti-viral drugs is more difficult than making anti-bacterial medicines because

Options

A. viruses make use of host machinery
B. viruses are on the border line of living and non-living.
C. viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own
D. viruses have a protein coat

Explanation

### Step-by-Step Solution

1. **Understanding the Question**: The question asks why making antiviral drugs is more challenging than creating antibacterial medicines.

2. **Identifying Key Differences**:
- Antibacterial medicines target bacteria, which have their own cellular structures and metabolic processes.
- Antiviral drugs target viruses, which rely on the host's cellular machinery for replication.

3. **Analyzing the Characteristics of Viruses**:
- Viruses are not considered fully living organisms; they exist on the borderline of living and non-living.
- They have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own, which means they do not perform metabolic activities independently.

4. **Mechanism of Action**:
- Antibacterial drugs often work by disrupting the bacterial cell wall (made of peptidoglycan) and inhibiting their metabolic processes.
- In contrast, since viruses lack their own metabolic machinery and rely on the host, it becomes difficult to target them without affecting the host's cells.

5. **Conclusion**:
- The main reason making antiviral drugs is more difficult is that viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own (Option C). This makes it challenging to develop drugs that specifically target viral processes without harming the host.

6. **Final Answer**: Therefore, the correct answer is **Option C: Viruses have very few biochemical mechanisms of their own.**