ELi5 – Why are viruses considered to be non-living?
In: Biology
There are 6 (scientists will disagree on this number, saying 6-8) traits that define something as being alive:
1. **It must maintain homeostasis** – it must balance its internal environment. For example, if a human is too hot, it will sweat to lower its body temperature. If a bacteria has too much acidity in it, it will push acids out in order to maintain a balance. Viruses can’t do this.
2. **It must grow over it course of its life.** Viruses never grow, and are created fully-formed.
3. **It can reproduce.** Viruses require infecting a host cell in order to reproduce, making this iffy.
4. **It uses energy.** Technically, viruses don’t use energy. They steal the energy from the host cell.
5. **It responds to stimuli.** This is the hardest one to ELI5, mostly because scientists currently aren’t sure if viruses respond to things like being poked or sudden shifts to acidty.
6. **It adapts via evolution.** Viruses definitely evolve to suit their environment.
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