Are virus in animal sphere not computer sphere living or dead things?

Question

Interesting article in ScientificAmerica about year ago.

Answer 1

Viruses are pretty unique little entities in the natural world, but their success is evident in their abundance. Viruses are essentially very very small biochemical machines. They are all composed of a genome, either RNA or DNA, encased within a case of lipid and protein. This "case", called a capsid, is studded with lots of proteins involved with recognition of attachment to its host and equipment to fuse end enter the cell upon this recognition. The inside of the capsids contain machinery to bring their genome into the nucleus of host cells, activate this genome (which is not unlike a simple program) and hijack the cell, diverting its energy from making its own molecules to producing more virus particles.

Viruses outside of a host cell do not require energy to exist (as all living things do), you can crystalize them, they do not expel waste, and they cannot replicate themselves. Once they find a suitable host cell, they use it to replicate, expending energy and resulting in waste.

Techinically viruses are not "alive" as an entity, but they are certainly not "dead" either. I guess that makes them "undead", mwohahaha! Viruses are considered dead when they are no longer infectious (you cannot kill a cell one it enters the host cell unless you kill the cell). Personally, I don't think there is anything magical about life - a divine spark or whatever that animates you. Viruses just have a unique way of getting stuff done, their biological imperative (reproduction) is the same. Viruses are biomechanical nanomachines, you're just a much more complicated machine (even on the cellular level).

Answer 2

viruses are essentially pieces of DNA that are not living based on the accepted definition. They reproduce only after entering healthy cells where they tell the cells to crank out copies and send that to more cells.

Answer 3

Virus get active i.e. start living when they get on to a living being (or animal in your case) otherwise it is inactive or dead

Answer 4

viruses in animal sphere are non dead non alive . they can show the properties of dead when they are alive. that is they are alive but can live as dead