Peace of Christ, everyone!
For those convinced that viruses are alive, what convinced you?
Pax,
Charles
1 Like
I was under the impression that the majority of people don’t believe that viruses, or prions, are alive.
1 Like
The idea (seen I don’t remember where) that the infected cell is the living thing and the virion is its spore.
3 Likes
Viruses as a species fit my definition of life as a self-organizing dynamic process/structure which adapts to its environment. Viruses as individuals to do not fit my definition of life. As individuals they are just a collection of molecules. They represent a point on the continuum between life and non-life. Not only is life highly quantitative in numerous ways, but there are many non-living processes with self-organizing features of living organisms such as absorbing energy and materials from their environment to maintain their own dynamic structure.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 6 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.