Do you think Viruses are living or nonliving?

Question

There is a controversy over viruses and the fact as to whether they are living or nonliving

Answer 1

I would say they are nonliving but derived from living things. They are probably just where a chunk of the DNA that makes the enzymes that replicate DNA have broken off and evolved into what they are. The virus adds DNA through evolution to add proteins to cover them or perform some specific task to get them into the cell. They are more like parts of a cell that went crazy.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

For something to be living, a few criteria should be met. The subject in question has to be able to:
1. Excrete
2. Respond to stimuli
3. Reproduce
4. Respire
5. Conduct nutrition
6. Grow
7. Adapt

If you take a close look, viruses don't do a lot of things that living things do.
Furthermore, you should think if viruses are classified as living things, then do certain robots or computers that we create be classified as living things too?
THerefore, I say viruses are non-living, though there are people which say that they are living.

Answer 4

Viruses are not true cells and are not capable of performing life functions; yet, they can take over healthy cells and cause a great deal of trouble in living things. I can see the controversy, but I would have to say that viruses are non-living particles. They cannot reproduce on their own or carry out metabolic functions.

Answer 5

I think viruses are nonliving because:
1. The cell theory says that all living things are made of cells and viruses are not cells. Viruses don't have membranes, cytoplasm, organelles, or other cell parts.
2. Viruses don't use energy.

Answer 6

I think when things get as small as a single virus, there is some question of whether it could even qualify as a living thing. They are much smaller than a single cell orginism, and, if they would be considered alive, they would be the smallest living thing on the planet... but because of their simple make up, and their strange qualities, I'd say they're not living... I don't even think they can reproduce, they need infected cells of something else to help them reproduce.

Answer 7

I discovered that the main distinction between an endemic and a Bacterium is that a Bacterium is dwelling and organic and organic, and an endemic isn't. yet another significant distinction you already stated---an endemic needs to contaminate dwelling cells to advance, while a bacterium can procreate on itself and multiply by potential of itself. regardless of the undeniable fact that, that's debatable even though if an endemic is defined as dwelling or no longer. in accordance to this source I indexed under: "Viruses straddle the definition of existence. They lie someplace between supra molecular complexes and fairly straight forward organic and organic entities. Viruses incorporate most of the platforms and exhibit most of the activities that are worry-unfastened to organic and organic existence, yet they are lacking most of the others. greater often than no longer, viruses are completely composed of a single strand of genetic training encased interior of a protein pill. Viruses lack numerous the indoors shape and equipment which symbolize 'existence', consisting of the biosynthetic equipment it rather is mandatory for duplicate. to verify that an endemic to duplicate it is going to infect a perfect host cellular".

Answer 8

INtermediate...whether viruses are living or nonliving doesnt matter aside for classification reasons. the real deal is their affect on humans.

Answer 9

Most biologists consider them non-living because they lack all the characteristics of living things. They do not reproduce themselves (though they force cells to make copies. They co not grow. They do not acquire and convert energy. They do not respond to stimuli. They do not maintain homeostasis. Therefore they are not alive.

Some medical books do refer to them as living organisms however.

Answer 10

i'm told they're not alive, i'm sure you know they don't reproduce by thier own means.

i can imagine a conscious AI that i'd consider life even if it wasn't made to reproduce. Viruses seem simple enough to just be some dastardly biological trap.