Final answer:
The statement that transduction often involves a defective virus is true, as it refers to the process where a bacteriophage transfers bacterial DNA between cells, which can sometimes involve errors in DNA packaging.
Step-by-step explanation:
Transduction occurs when a bacteriophage, a type of virus that infects bacteria, transfers bacterial DNA from one bacterium to another during the process of infection. Generalized transduction can happen when a defective bacteriophage mistakenly packages a piece of the bacterial chromosomal DNA into its head during phage assembly, instead of its viral DNA. This accidentally packaged DNA is then injected into a new bacterial host upon the phage's infection process. Specialized transduction, on the other hand, occurs due to imprecise excision of a lysogenic prophage from the bacterial chromosome, leading to a specific piece of the bacterial DNA being transferred. Both processes can result in the recipient bacteria acquiring new genetic traits, such as antibiotic resistance.