Video narration
Like a computer virus, can a bacteriophage infect a cell without destroying it right away? First, the phage attaches to a bacterium and injects its genetic material. From there, the infection takes two paths. In the lytic cycle, phage genes take over the bacterium: it copies the genes, builds phage parts, and assembles new phages. Then lysis-the cell bursts-releases them. But the infection does not have to destroy the bacterium immediately. In the lysogenic cycle, phage DNA joins the bacterial DNA. This integrated DNA, called a prophage, is copied whenever the bacterium divides, staying hidden instead of making free phages. Stress or another trigger can activate the prophage. It leaves the chromosome and enters the lytic cycle. Lysogeny is temporary hiding, not a separate infection. So the answer is: it either hijacks and bursts the cell-the lytic cycle-or hides in its DNA, then wakes and enters lytic.