Poll: Viruses...

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

I don't think so, but it is quite complicated. They have most of the criteria for being alive, but I dont think they are.

 

[messy]

*snip*

Sure. The example I posted above were Chlamydia. They require host-cells to reproduce, much like virus. Yet they are bacteria.
This led to a lot of confusion early on. They were actually classified as virus at one time, heh.

This is what I meant with "fluid transition". There's no clear cut between life and non-life because nature created everything inbetween as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydia_(bacterium)

Chlamydia are obligate intracellular parasite bacterial pathogens, and are thus unable to replicate outside of a host cell.

They have an inert form (for survival outside of hosts) and a metabolic form when they actually get to do some replicating.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
What the proteine hull is to a virus, is the inert form to Chlamydia.
And what the shedded, pure DNA/RNA-core is to a virus, is the metabloic form to Chlamydia.

EDIT:

I am at least sure that they do not "live" , they are like air, a random element walking around the world and annoying people.

It's not that random. Virus actually evolve over time, along with the (other?) living beings on our planet. They develop mechanisms to fool our immune systems, enter cells, survive outside a host...
They're very complex!

Well with that I have to concede that Virus' may just be alive, but it does seem incredible hard to classify know there's a bacteria that follows similar viral reproduction but has the organelles and structure of a bacteria

 

[megapenguinx]

Viruses are not alive. They are more like tiny robots that want to make more and more of themselves until everything else is gone.

 

[Crystal Cuckoo]

You should clarify that we are talking about BIOLOGICAL viruses.
A lot of us confused them with computer viruses.

 

[Skeleon]

Well with that I have to concede that Virus' may just be alive,...

Emphasis on may.
It's a really interesting question that'll keep scientists busy for quite a while, I'm sure.

Viruses are not alive. They are more like tiny robots that want to make more and more of themselves until everything else is gone.

How's that different from bacteria or other "lower" lifeforms?

 

[messy]

Well with that I have to concede that Virus' may just be alive,...

Emphasis on may.
It's a really interesting question that'll keep scientists busy for quite a while, I'm sure.

Viruses are not alive. They are more like tiny robots that want to make more and more of themselves until everything else is gone.

How's that different from bacteria or other "lower" lifeforms?

Skeleon raises a good point with this, A lot of lower life forms; bacteria, protoctista (i think that's how it's spelt), fungi and plants to some extent are just a series of chemical inputs and outputs

 

[megalomania]

I was arguing with a friend about this, and we could not decide whether viruses are technically alive or not. What do the wise denizens of the Escapist think?

To clarify: we're talking biology, not computers

There are five criteria for life:

Reactive - does it react to external stimuli?
Reproductive - does it reproduce?
Adaptive - does it adapt to survive?
Growth - does it grow?
Consumption & Excretion - does it consume for energy and excrete waste?

Viruses I believe apply to all of these

There is a sixth that is sometimes used; Cellular - is it made of cells?

Viruses are sub-cellular so it doesn't satisfy this criteria. But that one is old so...

 

[Taniquel]

Viruses are not alive because they do not reproduce, they do not have any form of metabolism, and they do not have a cellular structure. I took Virology (bio major) and the fact that they are not alive was made perfectly clear.

 

[megapenguinx]

Well with that I have to concede that Virus' may just be alive,...

Emphasis on may.
It's a really interesting question that'll keep scientists busy for quite a while, I'm sure.

Viruses are not alive. They are more like tiny robots that want to make more and more of themselves until everything else is gone.

How's that different from bacteria or other "lower" lifeforms?

Ah great now I have to remember Bio 101....
It was something like, they didn't share all characteristics of living things. (Respond to environment, need to eat)
actually, I found this: http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/yellowstone/viruslive.html. Viruses are not made up of cells like bacteria. They cannot reproduce through mitosis.