Question

If viruses are nonliving, why do they appear to have the same living properties as infectious bacteria, including the ability to evolve?

Answer 1

Viruses have a complex organization, respond to environment and evolve. The ability of viruses to infect their host is because of the presence of envelope proteins or the capsid proteins that is present on viral surface. They have the ability to integrate their genome with that of their host and utilize the hosat machinery to carry out the functions that constitute life in viruses.

The ability of viruses to evolve comes from their property of integrating viral genome with the host genome in the course of their life cycle. They evolve, because their DNA is replicated falsely by the host or some of the host's DNA gets into their shells while being produced.

Viruses sit on the edge of life, being neither living nor completely non-living, they provide a link in the origin of life from non-living entities.