You are an explorer in the Amazon River Basin. You discover a highly organized "thing" that has a protein coat surrounding DNA, but lack a plasma membrane. This "thing" affects quite a few living organisms in this area. How would you correctly classify this "thing"

A virus

Explanation:

All prokaryotes and eukaryotes have a cell membrane. The only "living" things that don't are viruses, and they are not even considered strictly living, since they cannot reproduce without a host. They are instead sometimes referred to as an infectious "agent" (which explains why it might affect a few living organisms in the area)

A virus consists of genetic material (either DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coat or capsid, which is fitting with this description.