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Home Q & A Board Biology-Related Homework Help Cell Biology
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robjenkens robjenkens
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11 years ago
Should a virus be considered alive?
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wrote...
#1
11 years ago
Its not considered alive right now

i don't think it should either
wrote...
#2
11 years ago
yes
wrote...
#3
11 years ago
This question has been debated for a while now. my opinion is that since it can be killed it should be considered alive because you can't kill something without it being alive first. Others believe that since a virus cant reproduce without infecting a host and taking over the reproductive processes of those cells its not living. hope this helps!
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#4
11 years ago
yes, until you kill it!
its moves, lives, eats, breathes, what more do you want?
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#5
11 years ago
A virus is both alive and not. It' simply because it possess some of the characteristics of living things and also some characteristics from non- living things. They possess genes which is an important component in all living things but do not put it in use when the conditions are unfavorable. they also do not have a definite cellular structure which is the most basic form of life. Some scientists also describe viruses as "organisms at the edge of life" (Source:Wikipedia)
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#6
11 years ago
I think so. In my opinion they're like robots. But technically because they don't have a cellular structure they aren't considered living.
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#7
11 years ago
No.

A virion is only a chunk of RNA or DNA and a protien coat and sometimes a membrane (envelope), and occasionally a few enzymes.

A virion CANNOT uptake energy nor make use of it, transport materials into/out of it's coat/envelope, nor reproduce on it's own. It requires a permissive host for it's replication and survival. It only takes over the machinery of cells, but that doesn't mean it's alive.
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