Concept explainers
Discuss why viruses are considered nonliving.
To review:
The viruses that are considered as non-living.
Introduction:
The organisms that cannot reproduce, move, breathe, and grow are called non-living organisms whereas, living organisms are the organisms that can grow, develop, stimulate towards environment, reproduce, and are able to move.
Explanation of Solution
Viruses are tiny infectious agents that are able to replicate only when, they are present inside the cell of a living organism. They are able to cause infections in every type of living form like, animals, microorganisms, bacteria, plants and also include archaebacteria. They are a different type of organism that is not formed up of living cells.
Viruses consist of lipid envelope, protein capsids, and nucleic acid genome. They are not considered as living organisms because they are able to multiply only when they are inside the living cell. Outside the living cell, they are non-impactful and non-living. They cannot survive outside the cell. They lack the properties of living organisms like, energy, metabolism, waste productions, growth and development and independent reproduction.
Therefore, it can be concluded that viruses are considered as non-living because they cannot move, replicate, grow and develop in the absence of a living cell.
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Chapter 17 Solutions
Genetics: Analysis and Principles
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