Are viruses living or non-living organisms? Noelia Medina Sanz 1ºB

WHAT IS LIFE?

Life must be defined as the organismic state characterized by the capacity for metabolism , growth, reaction  to stimuli and reproduction.

WHAT ARE VIRUSES?

Viruses are small infectious agents that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. They can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants, to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.

ARE VIRUSES LIVING OR NON-LIVING ORGANISMS?

Viruses are in between. When they are outside of  a living thing, they are non-living organisms because they can’t replicate themselves. But when they are inside of  a living thing, they are alive . When a virus  find a cell, a serie of chemical reactions occur that lead to the production of new viruses. These steps are completely passive, that is, they are predefined by the nature of the molecules that comprise the virus particle. So viruses need to be inside a living cell to be a living organims.

Some examples of viruses are the coronavirus, the herpesvirus, the hepatitis c virus, the bird flu virus, the smallpox virus and the influenza virus.

              STRUCTURE                                TYPES