Why is a virus considered dead (and bacteria alive)?

Question

I think the title explains itself.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I know they are not alive, but can be “de-activated”, my bad for expressing myself in a bad way.

In: Biology

Answer 1

It’s the lack of metabolism that does it. Viruses just don’t do anything. No chemical reactions are taking place, no gene activity, no nothing. They can’t breath, they can’t eat and they can’t repair themselves. They are just complicated microscopic ‘rocks’.

You could argue they come alive when they infect something. The important thing is that they belong to the realm of biology, so the distinction between living and non-living doesn’t really mean much.