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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPoll: Is A Virus Alive?
(Goodheart asked for a poll)
17 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Time expired | |
Yes | |
0 (0%) |
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Yes - when viral DNA/RNA is inside a host cell | |
0 (0%) |
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N/A - a moot philosophic argument | |
3 (18%) |
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No - a virus lacks metabolism | |
14 (82%) |
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Yes - @ 38.9029N, 77.0406W, K Street | |
0 (0%) |
|
1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll |
19 replies
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Poll: Is A Virus Alive? (Original Post)
denem
Apr 2020
OP
If the person is dead but the virus still lives, then yes, I would say yes it is alive!
MartyTheGreek
Apr 2020
#5
But it isn't alive by itself, it needs a host cell to activate and become alive.
grantcart
Apr 2020
#15
AI is not an animate object. It isn't real. It's an expression of information - a simulation only.
Doodley
Apr 2020
#10
SCantiGOP
(13,869 posts)1. This is not a debatable question
Any trained biologist, like my sister who had a PhD and taught college biology for years, will tell you that a virus is not a life form as life is defined.
denem
(11,045 posts)4. cf. Microbiology Society debate
Doodley
(9,088 posts)2. Yes, viruses are more than just chemicals.
Massacure
(7,521 posts)3. Yes. Case in point - Donald J. Trump.
MartyTheGreek
(565 posts)5. If the person is dead but the virus still lives, then yes, I would say yes it is alive!
denem
(11,045 posts)7. I've got a live one here
Doodley
(9,088 posts)9. That is a very good argument.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)15. But it isn't alive by itself, it needs a host cell to activate and become alive.
htuttle
(23,738 posts)6. Is a light switch a one-bit computer?
Maybe there's not such a bright line between life and not.
Viruses seem more complicated than Prions and less complicated than bacteria.
denem
(11,045 posts)8. Is autonomous replicating AI alive?
= philosophical argument IMHO
Doodley
(9,088 posts)10. AI is not an animate object. It isn't real. It's an expression of information - a simulation only.
denem
(11,045 posts)13. An IA robot that can reproduce itself by fabrication,
and transfer it's intelligence to the new product.
Doodley
(9,088 posts)18. That sounds like it would be alive.
Dem2
(8,168 posts)11. "The coronavirus is also an RNA virus; it consists of a single, 30,000-base-long RNA molecule."
...
But we've known for a long time that this process doesn't hold for viruses. Many viruses, including HIV and the influenza virus, use RNA for their basic genetic material. The coronavirus is also an RNA virus; it consists of a single, 30,000-base-long RNA molecule.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/covid-19-the-biology-of-an-effective-therapy/
...
But we've known for a long time that this process doesn't hold for viruses. Many viruses, including HIV and the influenza virus, use RNA for their basic genetic material. The coronavirus is also an RNA virus; it consists of a single, 30,000-base-long RNA molecule.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/covid-19-the-biology-of-an-effective-therapy/
...
A single molecule is "life"?
scrabblequeen40
(334 posts)12. definition of "live" ability to replicate and grow
so yes, virus is live.
Demsrule86
(68,556 posts)14. There is disagreement on this questiion personally I consider them alive.
ismnotwasm
(41,977 posts)16. It's alive enough to fool our bodies and use our cells.
They look like aliens though
Response to denem (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Baclava
(12,047 posts)19. Yes/No/Maybe