Question

Viruses are surrounded by a capsid, not a cell membrane. They interact with their environment to acquire and use energy. Some viruses use DNA as their genetic material; others use RNA. The heritable characteristics of viruses can change over time. Viruses do not make their own proteins – they don't have their own protein synthesizing platforms so they use a host cell’s machinery to make their proteins. Given all of this information, would you characterize viruses as living or non-living? Please explain your answer

Answer 1

A typical living cell has moving cytoplasm, cell membrane and cell organelles. It is structurally and functionally active. Cell does have their own protein synthesis mechanism. In contrast, Virus does not consist cell wall. It cannot synthesize their own protein. Additionally, virus does not consist of any cell organelles. They depend on their host for their survival. They do not have metabolic pathway and depends on host/ environment for their energy requirement. Though they do have genetic material which is heritable and variable, viruses are consider as non living because of the above reasons.