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paraplayer

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Posted on 06-30-05 11:32 AM Link | Quote
Does a virus qualify as a living thing? it displays all 7 signs of life but... its a computer program.
Legion
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Posted on 06-30-05 11:36 AM Link | Quote
It's not comprised of cells, so no.
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Posted on 06-30-05 11:43 AM Link | Quote
Oooooooooooh, tough question.

I'm going with the "unique" life side of it. Viruses should be given a seperate category.
paraplayer

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Posted on 06-30-05 11:46 AM Link | Quote
What are real viruses classified as?
Legion
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Posted on 06-30-05 11:50 AM Link | Quote
That question has been one of the most debated questions in all biology.
Some say they're alive, others say they're not, and the rest say it's a little bit of both.
paraplayer

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Posted on 06-30-05 12:19 PM Link | Quote
your all just angry because viruses can multiply.

Well they're organic. They're not robots. They must be alive! Just very basic.
Cruel Justice

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Posted on 06-30-05 12:24 PM Link | Quote
After reading up on the infection I have, I do indeed believe that viruses are "living" things. They aren't comprised of cells but can cause the body to make tumors. Kaposi's Sarcoma can make several cancerous ulcers in lymph systems.
The Wrong 'Un

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Posted on 06-30-05 01:36 PM Link | Quote
What on earth are the 7 signs of life????
Legion
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Posted on 06-30-05 02:33 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by The Wrong 'Un
What on earth are the 7 signs of life????



I was wondering myself.
Dei*

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Posted on 06-30-05 06:08 PM Link | Quote
I don't think viruses are alive, not fully anyway. Hmm...That IS a tough question.
Kaioshin

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Posted on 06-30-05 06:51 PM Link | Quote
About the carbon-based ones, here's a wikipedia article about them with this topic mentioned. I'll quote it.

Viruses: non-living or alive?

A virus makes use of existing enzymes and other molecules of a host cell to create more virus particles. Viruses are neither unicellular nor multicellular organisms; they are somewhere between being living and non-living. Viruses have genes and show inheritance, but are reliant on host cells to produce new generations of viruses. Many viruses have similarities to complex molecules. Like DNA, viruses undergo molecular replication and they can often be crystallized. Because viruses are dependent on host cells for their replication they are generally not classified as "living". Whether or not they are "alive", they are obligate parasites, and have no form which can reproduce independently of their host. Like most parasites, they have a specific host range, sometimes specific to one species (or even limited cell types of one species) and sometimes more general.

Viruses form when molecules are assembled from organic compounds providing complex, microscopic structures which have the potential for self-assembly, and thusly they have large implications in the study of the origin of life. In the debate of whether viruses are alive or not, if the requirement for autonomous self-reproduction is abandoned, it can be strongly argued that viruses are indeed alive. Some small viruses are more efficient than most cellular life forms as their ratio of functions to working parts is so high. If viruses are alive then the prospect of creating artificial life is enhanced or at least the standards required to call something artificially alive are reduced.


However, one should note that no program can be considered alive. (As is the case with computer viruses.

Edit: Oh, and here is another interesting article about Life itself (in a biological sense) which might answer what the criteria for a thing being alive are supposed to be.

(edited by Kaioshin on 06-30-05 09:58 AM)
HyperLamer
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Posted on 07-01-05 02:10 AM Link | Quote
Computer programs don't require food.
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Posted on 07-01-05 03:56 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by HyperHacker
Computer programs don't require food.


No because hackers dont put stomachs in.
Maldrog
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Posted on 07-01-05 04:29 AM Link | Quote
Yupp computer viruses are just memory on a computer and nothing more... just 1s and 0s.
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Posted on 07-01-05 04:54 AM Link | Quote
in a way some computer viruses require food. Like the worm virus. It can only stay alive as long as the program that it was sent after is still on the computer. Like in the book Digital Fortress.

Back on subject though. I see viruses as living because they eat cells and stuff like that.
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Posted on 07-01-05 05:56 PM Link | Quote
It wouldn't 'die' if its target vanished though. It would just sit there idle until another one appears. And corrupting a file isn't really the same as eating.

Also 99% of worms that corrupt files just pick random ones, not one specific thing.
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Posted on 07-01-05 06:29 PM Link | Quote
Well, so they eat whatever they want...obeseity worms?
Legion
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Posted on 07-01-05 06:31 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Legault

Back on subject though. I see viruses as living because they eat cells and stuff like that.


No they don't.
neotransotaku

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Posted on 07-01-05 09:08 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Legion
Originally posted by Legault

Back on subject though. I see viruses as living because they eat cells and stuff like that.


No they don't.


viruses don't eat cells, they just simply take the cell over by hijacking the equipment that is there. to me, the defining point of a species to being alive is the ability to reproduce on their own. As far as I know, any species in the animal tree has the ability to reproduce on their own without the aid of another organism to do it for them. viruses are unable to do that because they are nothing more than protiens.
Vulkar

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Posted on 07-02-05 12:43 AM Link | Quote
Okay, this makes no sense to me, so I'll reply with as much sense as possible.

Biological viruses should not be considered alive in my opinion. They are like germs, only more effective, and more damaging.

Now, computer viruses(worms aren't a virus you should know.) are also not alive.
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