The lysogenic cycle can be considered as an “add-on” to the lytic cycle for certain bacteriophages. Essentially, following nucleic acid injection, the viral genome integrates itself into the bacterial genome as a prophage and remains dormant. As a result, when the host bacterium undergoes a reproductive cycle, it also replicates the viral prophage, creating numerous copies of the viral genome. When optimum bacteriophage replication conditions occur, the prophage exits the lysogenic cycle and resumes the lytic cycle. A key difference between both cycles is timing; while the lytic cycle can be fulfilled in one generation of bacteria, the lysogenic cycle can last through multiple generations of bacterial replication.[9]