Does a virus maintain a stable internal environment

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Assignment:

Synthesis question:

Defend an argument of whether a virus is or is not alive and how this may relate to life on other planets.

A friend asks you about viruses. Speci?cally, she wants to know if they are alive. You explain that viruses consist of genetic material (RNA or DNA) surrounded by a protein coat, which may or may not be enclosed in a small membrane. When a virus infects a cell, the genetic material in the virus "overwrites" the cell's genetic instructions, and the cell produces more of the components of the virus and assembles the components for it. Then, you realize that you have to explain to your friend the characteristics of living organisms and whether or not a virus fIts those characteristics:

Does a virus grow?
Does a virus reproduce?
Does a virus maintain a stable internal environment?
Does a virus sense and respond to stimuli?
Does a virus obtain and use energy?

Keeping these characteristics in mind, what is your answer? Is a virus alive?

How does your argument relate to the potential presence of life on Mars? What if you took the opposing viewpoint about viruses; how would that relate to your classi?cation of life on Mars?

Reference no: EM134007802

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