Is the matter really that black and white?
Viruses- these tiny creeps are found on just about everything- quiet literally, on any surface you could lay your hands to any environment you could possibly come across. They are capable of infecting any form of life and create havoc but are, however, picky when it comes to infecting certain form of cells.
Viruses have two phases of lifecycles- first being the dispersal phase wherein they are non-metabolising, free floating boxes of genetic materials known as the Virions which infect cells. Later, inside the host cells, they are capable of reproduction, although by borrowing machinery from the host’s genome. This somewhat confusing isn’t it? Making us ponder over the question of their status all the more; given that most cell organelles or components of the cell also really interact with other organelles roughly in the same way.
The question remains, are the viruses either alive or they are not. Well, it really depends on an individual’s perspective, really. It isn’t exactly as black or white- they are either alive or they aren’t.
“Virus-like genes form a large part of the genomes of many cellular organisms, and are probably involved in their evolution,” says Adrian Gibbs, an expert on virus evolution from the Australian National University.
An expert, Amesh Adalja, who is an infectious disease physician from the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security says,” There are some characteristics of viruses that put them on the borderline [of being alive] – they have genetic material: DNA or RNA. It’s not the same thing as a rock, but it’s clearly not the same thing as even bacteria, in terms of that self-sustaining and self-generated action.”
Another researcher, Claudia Vickers, from the University of Queensland explains, “Life is built from chemical building blocks – DNA, RNA, proteins, and other cellular parts are chemicals, and commonly polymer chemicals; they are arranged and work together in such a way that they provide the characteristics that we collectively refer to as ‘life’ in living organisms. So perhaps it might be easier to consider chemistry and biology as a continuum, which includes a grey zone where things like viruses sit.”
Anyways, it is safe to say that there are probably a huge variety of things or processes or organisms out there which do not strictly fall into discrete dichotomy of living versus non-living.
