Are viruses living?
Viruses are not considered living. The two main reasons that they are not considered living are:
1) They do not meet all the 8 characteristics of life. Viruses contain no cell organelles including cytoplasm, meaning they are not made up of at least one cell (1 of the 8 characteristic of life). However, they do contain nucleic acids. Virus can reproduce, however, they need a host cell to do it for them. Also, viruses are unable to preform any sort of chemistry of life (for example: metabolism) on their own.
2) They can be dehydrated and turned into a salt. This was discovered by Miller who was doing an experiment on diseased plants. He had left the diseased juices of the plants out over and it evaporated, leaving behind crystallized viruses. When Miller re-hydrated the crystals, dissolving them, he found that it caused plants to be diseased when he put the juices on other plants.
1) They do not meet all the 8 characteristics of life. Viruses contain no cell organelles including cytoplasm, meaning they are not made up of at least one cell (1 of the 8 characteristic of life). However, they do contain nucleic acids. Virus can reproduce, however, they need a host cell to do it for them. Also, viruses are unable to preform any sort of chemistry of life (for example: metabolism) on their own.
2) They can be dehydrated and turned into a salt. This was discovered by Miller who was doing an experiment on diseased plants. He had left the diseased juices of the plants out over and it evaporated, leaving behind crystallized viruses. When Miller re-hydrated the crystals, dissolving them, he found that it caused plants to be diseased when he put the juices on other plants.