Are Characteristics Of Alive's Are Viruses Alive

The biological significance of this article is due in part to the fact that viruses are being considered as partway-living things. Even though they are only halfway living, per se, they are still an important part of the study of living things because of the unique way in which they “live” and continue to reproduce by taking advantage of host cells. The information in this article relates to biologists in that viruses provide an entirely different element of potential life, as they are a cause for reconsideration when it comes to defining and determining life and non-life forms. This

It is often argued whether viruses are living or not. Those who don’t believe that viruses are living generally base their opinion off of the fact that they do not follow the basic definition of “life”. They do not carry out life-sustaining functions on their own like normal organisms. On the other side of the argument, some believe that viruses are in fact, living beings, which is where I rest my opinion.

A virus is a small capsule that contains DNA or RNA, viruses, unlike bacteria are not self sufficient and need a host in

Unlike bacteria, that have everything it needs to reproduce, viruses need to use a living cell's organelles in order to replicate.

There Is another view that contends viruses as living entities. In 2009 David Moreira & Purificacion Lopez Garcia wrote an entry about the reasons why viruses should not be inducted into the tree of life. The main support of their claim is that viruses do not meet the criteria that defines life. Viruses have the same molecular composition as cells: mainly nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and complex sugars() . In the past this similarity has led scientists to believe that viruses were alive. For many years’ viruses were thought to be the “missing link” (Moreira & Lopez) between the “non-living and the first cells” (Moreira & Lopez). With the discovery of DNA encoding came a theory and definition for what defines life. The theory was based on the fact that all living entities have DNA and evolve. Under these criteria viruses were considered to be living because we know they contain DNA and there has been considerable research showing the ancestral lineage of viruses. This theory survived for many years as the most widely accepted way to describe life. This theory was put to rest in the year 2000 when the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses officially concluded that viruses are not alive. This view is still held by many scientists

For example, viruses do not use energy and raw materials to grow and reproduce, and they are not made of one or more of the basic fundamental units of life – a cell. Compared to a cell, which includes organelles that enable the structure to grow and reproduce, a virus can only reproduce if another cell is present and that cell has organelles that the virus can inject its own DNA or RNA into and use it for its own replicating or mutating purposes. Viruses are made of a protein coat or capsid with its DNA or RNA genetic material enclosed inside of the capsid. In comparison, in addition to having organelles that use energy to help the cell develop, grow, and reproduce with the help of DNA, the cell by definition is enclosed in a membranous boundary,

Personally, I believe that there cannot be a present scientific answer, but a philosophical answer. First, there are a few things I would like to point out on which the author of the article is wrong. According to Science Line , viruses are considered to be non living. It says that, “Primarily, they lack the ability to reproduce without the aid of a host cell, and don't use the typical cell- division approach to replication.” That means that there is no present gray area, and the main consensus says that they are non living. In the article, it says that, “[Viruses] May be destroyed… viruses resemble seeds more than the do living cells.(103)” That entire statement is false. According to Dr. Mikhail Grinberg, viruses are, “Generally incurable, but

Did you know the name virus was coined from the word meaning slimy liquid or poison?In the document "study adds to evidence that viruses are alive" Diana Yates builds an argument to persuade the audience that viruses are living entities that share history with cells. Yates uses evidence, reasoning, stylistic and persuasive elements to, strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of her argument.

Are virus alive? The big debate is are virus alive or do they lack the mechanism necessary to function on their own. If we look at what defines life we will see that a virus mimics every function that is consider necessary to be alive. But some people still do not believe that virus are alive. If we look at all the characteristic of life a virus fulfills and meets each characteristics one may argue that a virus could not exist without a host but neither can the cells that make up the human body, one organ cannot exist without the others. A good example would be to look at the seed of a tree if it never gets water and soil it will never be a tree a living organism right, but once it is watered and planted it becomes a tree and we all recognize

A virus should not be classified as a living thing. Viruses, such as the Influenza and Adenovirus do not grow nor do they have an energy source. The Influenza and Adenovirus also do not reproduce asexually or sexually, they reproduce by replication instead. They also do not respond towards external stimuli. According to the characterizes of all living things, growth is a requirement for life and since viruses like the Influenza virus cannot grow, they should not be classified as living. Living things also require an energy source because it is needed as fuel for important biological functions. Viruses lack an energy source and cannot fuel basic biological functions like homeostasis therefore they cannot be considered living. Reproduction is

Energy is an essential part of life all living organisms use energy to survive. To use the energy gain from digestion or synthesis a metabolism is needed helps break down the molecules and use the for energy for the body. A virus does not have a metabolism as stated by the Arizona Science Center “Viruses are too small and simple to collect or use their own energy– they just steal it from the cells they infect.” They also concluded that “Viruses only need energy when they make copies of themselves, and they don't need any energy at all when they are outside of a

Viruses are microscopic organisms that are able to reproduce themselves using a host call. Viruses play the role of a parasite or an uninvited guest in an organism. Epidemics occurs when a disease spreads through many people; ex: THe Great Influence Epidemics of 1918.Pandemics its is a global outbreak of a disease; ex: HIV/AIDS. Viruses are similar to cells they have genetic material and reproduce just like cells.Viruses are different from cells because they are not made of cells and cannot metabolize nutrients.

The virus is considered living, because there is DNA, and it would be active when it would touch a cell. Also, viruses are able to replicate very effectively. These viruses can be reproduced extremely quickly.

Viruses are described as the middle ground between what is considered living and non-living. Without a means of replicating within themselves they use the living cells of other organisms to do so. Viruses are essentially genes consisting of DNA or RNA surrounded by a protective coating of protein called a capsid and some viruses are surrounded by a bubble of lipid called an envelope. I believe that although not considered fully living or dead viruses are a crucial part of the biological research of life and have many ties to what is considered living and should not be put aside when researching this topic, and this essay seeks to show this by looking further into the scientific definition of life, the roles of viruses……………………………………………

A virus by definition is “any member of a unique class of infectious agents . . . that consists of genetic material, which may be either DNA or RNA, and is surrounded by a protein coat and, in some viruses, by a membrane envelope” (“virus”). Such agents are unable to produce the necessary nutrients to survive because they do not possess the biochemical mechanisms or organelles to synthesize necessary elements. As a result, they feed off a living host cell by attaching to the cell’s docking proteins and injects its virus through the membrane. However, the cycle of a virus is more complex than it may seem.