Cady 1 Kai Cady Prof. Freitag BIOL 101 31 Jan 2023 Are Viruses Alive? Although viruses have aspects and characteristics that are similar or the same to living and multicellular organisms, viruses themselves are not alive. Living organisms follow the same characteristics and functions of organized cellular structure of complex organisms, sensitivity to stimuli, reproduction, adaptation to the surrounding environment, growth and development, homeostasis, and energy processing (Fowler et al., Concepts of Biology 2017). Viruses share only a few of these functions such as reproduction through taking over cells and replicating themselves. Viruses as well have order within their structure. Viruses show signs of evolving and development with resistances overtime to adapt from external sources (Fowler et al., Concepts of Biology 2017). Viruses require sources of energy for them to perform their takeover of cells. In the article, Are Viruses Alive, from the British Medical Journal, it gives an example of how viruses can be activated with combining antibodies or with certain chemicals. However, viruses are only able to use these features in specific circumstances, unlike organisms classified as living. Reproduction requires the virus to inhabit a host cell for the replication to occur. When the virus is in the right situation that displays these characteristics that living organisms have, viruses demonstrate that they are living organisms. Unfortunately, the virus must rely on an external force to display these characteristics. Because of the reliance of outside forces and Cady 2 unable to match the same characteristics of living organisms on their own, viruses are not to be considered as living organisms. Cady 3 References Are Viruses Alive? (1962). British Medical Journal, 2(5298), 171–172. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.5298.171 Fowler, S., Roush, R., & Wise, J. (2017). Concepts of Biology. OpenStax College, Rice University. Koonin, & Starokadomskyy, P. (2016). Are viruses alive? The replicator paradigm sheds decisive light on an old but misguided question. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part C, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 59, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2016.02.016 Villarreal. (2004). Are Viruses Alive? Scientific American, 291(6), 100–105. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1204-100
