Give a brief account of viruses with respect to their structure and nature of genetic material. Also name four common viral diseases.

Viruses are sub-microscopic infectious agents that can infect all living organisms. A virus consists of genetic material surrounded by a protein coat. The genetic material may be present in the form of DNA or RNA. Most of the viruses, infecting plants, have single stranded RNA as genetic material while  the viruses infecting animals have single or double stranded RNA or double stranded DNA. Bacteriophages or viruses infecting bacteria mostly have double stranded DNA. Their protein coat called capsid is made up of capsomere subunits. These capsomeres are arranged in helical or polyhedral geometric forms. The coat protects the nucleic acid.
AIDS, small pox, mumps, and influenza are some examples of viral diseases.