In some ways, viruses are both living and non-living. They have genetic information that evolves through natural selection. They assemble themselves. You can't say either of those things about rocks, clouds, or stars. But they don't have any kind of internal chemical processes for sustaining life, such as growing, reproducing, or adapting to their environment. In this way, they are pretty much as inert as a non-living material. So what are they? Many scientists believe they are a precursor to life, a pre-life form that gives us an idea of how life evolved from self-assembling, self-replicating organic molecules. Others believe that they are more like seeds, with the potential for life, if they find the right environment (a cell host). Still others see them as simple parasites, runaway portions of genes from an earlier host. So this question has not been fully answered, but the pursuit of the answer has led to many fascinating discoveries
Viruses are active when they are present in the host, and thus are living. When they are outside the body of host they are inactive and behave as non-living.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
In some ways, viruses are both living and non-living. They have genetic information that evolves through natural selection. They assemble themselves. You can't say either of those things about rocks, clouds, or stars. But they don't have any kind of internal chemical processes for sustaining life, such as growing, reproducing, or adapting to their environment. In this way, they are pretty much as inert as a non-living material. So what are they? Many scientists believe they are a precursor to life, a pre-life form that gives us an idea of how life evolved from self-assembling, self-replicating organic molecules. Others believe that they are more like seeds, with the potential for life, if they find the right environment (a cell host). Still others see them as simple parasites, runaway portions of genes from an earlier host. So this question has not been fully answered, but the pursuit of the answer has led to many fascinating discoveries
Answer:
Viruses are active when they are present in the host, and thus are living. When they are outside the body of host they are inactive and behave as non-living.