Biology Essay: Examining Viruses - Living or Non-Living Organisms?

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of viruses, beginning with an introduction to their nature and origin, derived from a Latin word meaning poison. It delves into the characteristics of life, such as cellular composition, energy requirements, and the ability to reproduce, comparing these attributes to those of viruses. The essay then explores the structure of viruses as parasites on the boundary of life, composed of nucleic acids and proteins, and their dependence on host cells for replication. It examines arguments for considering viruses non-living, emphasizing their reliance on host cell metabolism and lack of integrated organs. Conversely, it highlights the presence of genetic material and the ability to replicate within host cells, supporting the view of viruses as living entities. The conclusion summarizes the complexity of classifying viruses and the methods used to determine their status as living or non-living organisms.

PART A: ESSAY PLAN
Viruses are very small in size and they are infectious in nature. The main objective of this essay
is to provide some information on the virus as they are living or non-living organisms.
 The introduction part is showing the meaning of virus.
 The essay is showing the attributes of the life of virus which helps in understanding the
nature of virus.
 The essay further shows the explanation of virus more deeply.
 The essay further explains some attributes which makes the virus a living organism.
 At the end, the conclusion explains the whole study.

PART B: VIRUS
INTRODUCTION
The word virus is extrapolated from a Latin word known as poison. It was initially fascinated
from its origin with various chromatic diseases like rabies, foot-and-mouth etc. (Villarreal, L,
2004)
DISCUSSION
The characteristics of life are as follows:
 The living organisms are composed and possessed of cells.
 Energy is required by the living organisms in order to carry out which will help in
producing which will further help the organization to sustain.
 The living organisms have the capability to render on their own and the living organisms
can perform similarly as a truly living organism which impact the host cells in the most
profound way.
 The living organisms have capability to raise.
 The Living organisms have an assemblage of integrated organs, like in multicellular
organisms, different type of organs are present but unicellular organisms are composed
and possessed of various structures.
 The genetic material is stored in the cells of living organisms.

VIRUSES
 The viruses are defined as the parasites which are present on a boundary of life and the
inert matter. Virus is made up of the molecules of nucleic acid and proteins but they don’t
have an ability to render and spread on their own.
 The host cell provide abetment to them. When the viruses replicate or render the new
genes are being produced (Villarreal, L, 2004).
 If the produced gene is innovative enough then it gets embodied into the host cell’s
genome and becomes the eternal fragrance of that cell.
 The example of virus are- HIV/AIDS, Lunar exploratory module (LEM), T4
bacteriophage, ATV (Acidianus-Tailed-Virus) etc.
VIRUS CONSIDERD AS NON- LIVING
 If the virus depends on the host cell completely for energy which is needed for synthesis
of proteins, nucleic acid, transport, etc. then the bio molecular aspects would be
parasitized and this helps them to render.
 The virus can only render or replicate with the help of host cell’s body. Therefore, the
scientists stated that virus is a non- living parasite which gets energy from a living
metabolism.
 The virus is also known as a molecular entity preferably than cellular entity and cannot
metabolize of their own (Forterre, P, 2010). They lack in integrated organs and fails to
reach a complexity.
 Therefore, viruses are elusive host gene which are being degenerated into a parasite and
they are not able to display the properties of life outside the host cell’s metabolism.

VIRUS CONSIDERED AS A LIVING
 It has been seen that viruses show genetic material and proteins in their cell. Also they
have the capability to render or replicate with the help of host cell’s body.
 The genetic material of virus is made up of double- standard DNA.
 They have a propensity of acting like an intracellular obligate parasite because of the
replication machinery. (Forterre, P, 2010)
CONCLUSION
The viruses are complex in nature and cannot be easily defined as a living or non- living.
Therefore, some methods are used to classify them as a living or non-living.

REFERENCES
Villarreal, L, 2004, ‘Are VirusesAlive?’, Scientific American vol.291 pp. 100 ‐ 105
Forterre, P, 2010, ‘Defining Life:The Virus Viewpoint’, Orig.Life Evol Biosph, vol. 40 pp. 151‐
160