Eli5: what exactly is a virus and are viruses alive?
In: 130
What a virus is: a short set of DNA or RNA inside a protein case.
This DNA/RNA code is used to override the normal cellular machinery of a host cell in order to create many copies of the virus DNA/RNA and its protein case (instead of what it would normally do such as create copies of its own DNA, proteins or cellular functions). It does this until the host cell literally bursts and dies, releasing the new virus particles.
Whether a virus is alive: that’s a trickier question.
Traditionally “living” things have been defined by needing to eat for energy, needing to reproduce, and the ability to change or adapt.
Since viruses typically spend a lot of time in an inert, stasis like state until coming into contact with a suitable host, and having no inherent metabolic processes or requirements in that state, they fall short of the typical requirement of requiring energy and having a method to process it.
They also are obligate parasites in terms of reproduction and change. They can’t reproduce or change outside of the brief period when they are infecting a host cell.
Oso while they don’t meet the traditional requirements kd life, they aren’t dead either. They are somewhere in between.
That said, the definition of life as it pertains to viruses is a hot topic in the scientific community.
What a virus is: a short set of DNA or RNA inside a protein case.
This DNA/RNA code is used to override the normal cellular machinery of a host cell in order to create many copies of the virus DNA/RNA and its protein case (instead of what it would normally do such as create copies of its own DNA, proteins or cellular functions). It does this until the host cell literally bursts and dies, releasing the new virus particles.
Whether a virus is alive: that’s a trickier question.
Traditionally “living” things have been defined by needing to eat for energy, needing to reproduce, and the ability to change or adapt.
Since viruses typically spend a lot of time in an inert, stasis like state until coming into contact with a suitable host, and having no inherent metabolic processes or requirements in that state, they fall short of the typical requirement of requiring energy and having a method to process it.
They also are obligate parasites in terms of reproduction and change. They can’t reproduce or change outside of the brief period when they are infecting a host cell.
Oso while they don’t meet the traditional requirements kd life, they aren’t dead either. They are somewhere in between.
That said, the definition of life as it pertains to viruses is a hot topic in the scientific community.
Imagine if there was a very specific mineral or chemical composition in the wind that if it touched you, would replicate (likely killing you) then, like a force of nature, release itself to spread further.
There is nothing “living” (as we consider it) about a virus, they’re just a set of stable and complex chemicals which together are able to replicate through actual (confirmed-living) organisms.
It’s difficult to say they’re not alive because they do replicate and they are “complex” as opposed to other materials or chemicals, alloys, or compounds, but there’s nothing “active” about them.
My personal thoughts? Not alive, just an extremely unfortunate variable in the grand scheme of biology. But my major was political science and I nearly died in my bio/Ochem courses so consider this a very, very mildly educated opinion
Imagine if there was a very specific mineral or chemical composition in the wind that if it touched you, would replicate (likely killing you) then, like a force of nature, release itself to spread further.
There is nothing “living” (as we consider it) about a virus, they’re just a set of stable and complex chemicals which together are able to replicate through actual (confirmed-living) organisms.
It’s difficult to say they’re not alive because they do replicate and they are “complex” as opposed to other materials or chemicals, alloys, or compounds, but there’s nothing “active” about them.
My personal thoughts? Not alive, just an extremely unfortunate variable in the grand scheme of biology. But my major was political science and I nearly died in my bio/Ochem courses so consider this a very, very mildly educated opinion
Imagine if there was a very specific mineral or chemical composition in the wind that if it touched you, would replicate (likely killing you) then, like a force of nature, release itself to spread further.
There is nothing “living” (as we consider it) about a virus, they’re just a set of stable and complex chemicals which together are able to replicate through actual (confirmed-living) organisms.
It’s difficult to say they’re not alive because they do replicate and they are “complex” as opposed to other materials or chemicals, alloys, or compounds, but there’s nothing “active” about them.
My personal thoughts? Not alive, just an extremely unfortunate variable in the grand scheme of biology. But my major was political science and I nearly died in my bio/Ochem courses so consider this a very, very mildly educated opinion
Are viruses alive? Tell me what your definition of life is, and I’ll if they are alive. Virus skirt the boundary between alive and not alive.
Are viruses alive? Tell me what your definition of life is, and I’ll if they are alive. Virus skirt the boundary between alive and not alive.
Are viruses alive? Tell me what your definition of life is, and I’ll if they are alive. Virus skirt the boundary between alive and not alive.
Edit: see u/iwasmurderhornets comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11uezbk/comment/jcsaeex/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), which clearly shows that viruses are NOT alive; they rely on a cell’s mechanisms, and that cell is the actual living sub-unit.
Life = Requires protein to build cells
Protein = DNA + RNA
Virus = RNA
Virus + Host cell = RNA + DNA = Virus becomes alive, Host cell dies
Virus replicates, Host cells die
So Virus IMV is neither dead nor alive, till it meets an Host that ‘accepts’ it
Edit: see u/iwasmurderhornets comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/11uezbk/comment/jcsaeex/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3), which clearly shows that viruses are NOT alive; they rely on a cell’s mechanisms, and that cell is the actual living sub-unit.
Life = Requires protein to build cells
Protein = DNA + RNA
Virus = RNA
Virus + Host cell = RNA + DNA = Virus becomes alive, Host cell dies
Virus replicates, Host cells die
So Virus IMV is neither dead nor alive, till it meets an Host that ‘accepts’ it
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