Viruses Are Not Living Things

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

Viruses - are extremely small particles made from protein and either DNA or RNA. They are not made up of cells instead they invade the living cells of other organisms and use them to produce many copies of

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

A virus is an infecting agent. Viruses are non-living they need a living host, a living organism to replicate themselves. When it invades a cell it will implant their code that is capable of copying itself. This will cause a detrimental effect, corrupting the system ti its advantage or complete destruction.

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.

Viruses are extremely unique to the microbial world they are the smallest and simplest microbe. Virions are only 20-400nm in size, and they do not have any way to replicate outside the host cell. Viruses do not have a cell wall, instead of a cell wall

Based on the description provided and the biologist's definition of life, I believe a virus should not be considered a living organism. To me, a virus does not meet the requirements needed that make up a living organism. A living organism must have the ability to reproduce to carry on for the future. While living organisms are made up of cells, viruses are made up of molecules. The complex levels of organization that living organisms go through go pass the level of just being made up of atoms and molecules. Organisms have cells, tissue, and organs which all function to become living. Reproducing is a key characteristic in anything that wants to live. Viruses are not able to reproduce naturally on their own and would not be able to grow or develop.

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

There are many living things in our world. Some people simply know them as “being able to move like humans and animals”. However, there are many restrictions for it to be considered a living thing. Virus is a big part of our lives, and there is a controversy whether it is a living thing or not. I believe that a virus should not be considered living thing because they lack many of the properties that scientists associate with living organisms.

According to http://www.yourdictionary.com/ a virus is “Any of various submicroscopic agents that infect living organisms, often causing disease, and that consist of a single or double strand of RNA or DNA surrounded by a protein coat. Unable to replicate without a host cell”. A few examples of a virus are HIV/AIDS, influenza(flu), chickenpox and mumps. A virus works by finding

A virus is a unique organism, it is neither alive nor dead or so they say. I personally believe that viruses are alive although lacking in characteristics that make up a live being only containing about three of the five regular characteristics; however, they still have properties that suggest that they are living for instance they have DNA ( deoxyribonucleic acid ), also they reproduce, and finally they contain nucleic acid and proteins. Throughout this essay I will explain my reasoning behind my argument that viruses are in fact alive and should be considered or classified as alive.

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

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

I believe that viruses are not living. A virus is nothing more than the genetic material it carries and the protein or lipids its shell is made up of. It has nothing to help it function like organs for complex organisms or organelles for a cell. A cell needs organelles to perform tasks to help keep it living. It needs one to produce proteins, one to break down food, and so on. A virus needs none of that and that proves it is not alive. Living things need to be able to make energy out of something, whether it is sunlight or food, and viruses do not even have the bits and pieces that would allow them to do that. Another piece of evidence is that a virus does not have a cell membrane or its own way to digest/metabolize food. All living organisms

Though viruses fit some of the characteristics of life they do not fit of all of them. The traits of viruses are much different from other types of living beings. For example, viruses have different structures than other things like bacteria. As stated on an article on wikipedia