Viruses display many of the characteristics of living organisms. In particular, they reproduce, creating new virus particles. During reproduction, viruses make copies of their genetic material, and some of the copies contain mutations that are beneficial to the virus. For example, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) mutates so often that its surface proteins change faster than we can develop antiviral drugs. New drug-resistant strains of HIV are appearing constantly. However, viruses can reproduce only after entering a living cell of an organism, because viruses hijack the cell’s machinery and use it to produce new viruses. Where does that combination of characteristics place viruses on the scale of nonlife to life? Are viruses living organisms? Nonliving? If neither of those categories fits the properties of viruses, how should they be classified?
Gene Interactions
When the expression of a single trait is influenced by two or more different non-allelic genes, it is termed as genetic interaction. According to Mendel's law of inheritance, each gene functions in its own way and does not depend on the function of another gene, i.e., a single gene controls each of seven characteristics considered, but the complex contribution of many different genes determine many traits of an organism.
Gene Expression
Gene expression is a process by which the instructions present in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are converted into useful molecules such as proteins, and functional messenger ribonucleic (mRNA) molecules in the case of non-protein-coding genes.
Viruses display many of the characteristics of living organisms. In particular, they reproduce, creating new virus particles. During reproduction, viruses make copies of their genetic material, and some of the copies contain mutations that are beneficial to the virus. For example, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) mutates so often that its surface proteins change faster than we can develop antiviral drugs. New drug-resistant strains of HIV are appearing constantly. However, viruses can reproduce only after entering a living cell of an organism, because viruses hijack the cell’s machinery and use it to produce new viruses. Where does that combination of characteristics place viruses on the scale of nonlife to life? Are viruses living organisms? Nonliving? If neither of those categories fits the properties of viruses, how should they be classified?
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