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Are Viruses Alive? By Bo Howes The word virus means “poi-son” in Latin.
Viruses are submicro-scopic intracellular parasites that consist of either RNA
or DNA, and a protective coat of protein. It has caused countless diseases in
vari-ous organisms. The term virus was first used in the 1890s to describe
agents that caused diseases that were smaller than bacteria.
The ex-istence of viruses was established in 1892, when Russian scientist
Dimity I. Ivanovsky discovered microscopic particles later known as the tobacco
mosaic virus. Over the years, scientists have debated whether viruses are alive.
Some scientists argue that the virus is lifeless. On the other hand, other
scientists argue that viruses are lifeforms and should be classified into a
kingdom. However, many sci-entists have agreed that things must have seven
characteristics of life to be considered alive.
The character-istics of life are all living things are composed of cells, all
organisms are organized at cellular and molecular levels, energy use, and
response to the environment, growth, reproduc-tion, and adaptation. From
research and observa-tion, scientists have found that vi-ruses can perform some
of the life processes. They found that viruses have organization, the ability to
re-produce, and adaptations. First, they found that viruses are generally
organized and composed of a nu-cleic acid core, either RNA or DNA, surrounded by
protein.
Next, they found that viruses could reproduce. It does not reproduce by
sexual or asexual production, but by injecting its genetic material into the
nucleus of a living cell. Finally, they found out that viruses have adaptations.
They have the ability to mutate into different strains to resist man-made drugs.
In short, these are some views and facts about the virus. To this day,
scientists are still fiercely debating whether viruses are alive. Should we
consider them alive since they perform some life processes or simply consider
them lifeless?
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