Virus thread?

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This is more of a philosophical question than a biological question. A microorganism is something that is alive and microscopic. A virus is (typically) microscopic, that's check number one, but depending on what someone defines life to be a virus may or not be considered alive.

These links provide pretty thorough arguments and definitions.

http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/9438/why-isnt-a-virus-alive

http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/39479/why-are-viruses-considered-microbes

http://m.phys.org/news/2015-09-evidence-viruses-alive.html

>>2176339
>fear of water

I always felt this was a misleading way to put it. Isn't it that water/swallowing causes physical, involuntary, painful throat contractions, and not an actual psychological fear?

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Ampullaviridae is shaped like a bottle.

The more I read about it the freakier it gets


How does the whole "software" (genetic data) part of the virus works ?

>>2176356
Yes

>>2176353
>tobacco mosaic virus
Fuck I'm glad we dealt with this one.

If somebody had created self-replicating nanobots, this is exactly what they'd be like...

REALLY MAKES YOU THINK

>>2176339
Since we're on the topic - viruses aren't alive. They do not fit some of the criteria for being alive, such as having their own metabolism - using the substances from the environment for catabolic or anabolic purposes.
Source: microbiology student.

>>2176404
jellyfish just stopped being alive.

my lads have never been so wew before.

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>>2176404
>mfw no longer alive or a plant

>>2176405
>>2176407
Except that both of these have their own metabolism. Viruses just use their host's metabolic functions to replicate themselves. They're about as alive as prions.

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>>2176409
>parasitic.
>own metabolism.

>>2176410
Not sure if trolling or not, but I assure you the two have their own metabolisms. Jellyfish obviously, they feed off of various things floating about in the water. The orchid, despite being parasitic, has its own metabolism, they just get the nutrients from a different organism.
Their cells still metabolize substances, thus they have a metabolism and are one step closer to being alve as opposed to viruses. And they are, unlike them.

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>>2176415
>but I assure you the two have their own metabolisms.
phantom orchids literally don't even have the chlorophyll to even make energy for themselves.

>m'algae.

>>2176416
You're missing the point, it's metabolism on a cellular level. There are plenty of living creatures that get by just fine without photosynthesis.

>>2176418
it's fully parasitic.

those jellyfish live from photosynthesis, it's algae converting energy for them.

>>2176420
Please read a biology textbook. Please.

>>2176421
please look up how the metabolism of a jellyfish works.

>>2176422
ok now so we got an animal that digests it's food and the energy goes directly to it's cells.

ok ok so this animal has algae living it's cells, living off photosynthesis, it directly gives the jellyfish energy.

>it doesn't digest anything.

>there's no metabolism needed.

god: 1
atheists: 0

>>2176420
I'm not that anon, but he's right. Saying that they don't metabolize because there's algae inside of them or because they're parasitic is like saying that your house is running off of solar just because you've stuck a few panels on the roof but never plugged them into anything.

The solar panels would still technically be generating, but without actually hooking it up to your system (metabolism on a cellular level in this case), the energy isn't doing anything.

>>2176426
if there's algae living in them, directly giving their cells energy, what is there to metabolize?

god: 2
atheists: 0

>>2176426
That anon here, just disregard him. He's either trolling or a tool, either way it won't do any good.

>>2176432
repent for your sins.

>>2176416
>m'algae
Fucking lel

>>2176433
Pls keep posting you're fun to argue with

>>2176339
Oh boy I love viruses. My favorite is T4 bacteriophage, like on the pic. They're dope af.

>>2176371
Simplest way to explain it would be that they find a cell they target, inject their DNA into the cell's DNA. Cells starts producing virus proteins and viral components. Those components then "assemble" and you have lots of new viruses. Cell bursts and they get out. Repeat.

>>2176353
That image is so outdated. We now know of viruses as big as bacteria and more.

I first learned about them when listening to a radiolab podcast. I don't remember the name of the episode, but try "virus big radiolab". Shit is interesting as fuck, they talk to one of the first people to find the bigger viruses.

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sputnik ftw

>>2176469
>Simplest way to explain it would be that

viruses are zombies. yep. that is it. you read that right.

>>2176353
Prions arnt viruses tho.
Viruses are dna injectors.
Prions are misfolded protiens that cause protiens around them to have that misfold as well.

>>2176420
cellular respiration is a metabolic process. Cells in animals convert atp to adp to fuel their actions.
Viruses do not do this because they lack mitochondria.

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What is the scariest virus?

>>2176416
>m'algae
*tips medusa*

>>2176339
They are NOT living things (organisms) because they lack the ability to reproduce on their own

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>>2176984
I can't reproduce by myself, but I'm still apparently a living thing

>>2176984
So do most 4chan users.

>>2176339
science has known for the last 20+ years that virus are not alive.

The key feature of life is metabolic activity, not inert information.
Any definition of life that has criteria by which a virus is considered a life-form would be full of an infinite number of nonsense things as well.

In fucktard virus fanboy land
1. crystals and snowflakes are alive, they are able to come in contact with something else and reproduce copies of their form
2. fire is alive, it is able to reproduce itself using other material
3. a computer program is alive, it is able to reproduce itself (and by that measure, any Turing-complete system is alive. As you can run any other program if the system is turing-complete, and people have even made turing-complete systems out of hundreds of silly games like Magic the Gathering. Yes, a card game is now a living creature if viruses are.
4. Anything that can be drawn on creates life. A piece of paper with a drawing of a sailboat and the text "if you found this, draw a sailboat on another paper and include these instructions" is technically just as alive as a virus.

In short, only absolute morons would ever consider a virus to be alive with what we know about them. Filter that brain-damaged tripshit to preserve your IQ.

>>2177008
>>2177013
If you guys are trying to make a joke, you tried.
If not, I suggest you retake high school biology

>>2177048
>im angry
Yeh m8 no need to shit out an essay no one will read on the subject

>>2177271
I read it. Some of us are actually interested in what intelligent people have to say. Seriously, though. That tripfag is retarded, wow.

>>2176356
Not only that but looking at it causes it as well. Enough of that and you'll be psychologically scared of it too, I guarantee it.

>>2176927
Communism

>>2177321
He has probably spent more time banned from 4chan than you have been alive.
Show some respect.

>>2177048
You forgot prions. Prions are the only organic structures, aside viruses, that defies the central dogma of biology.

Prions fucking scare me

Good thing that they arent airborne like some virii or we'd be fffffffffucked

I remember being taught that virus are relative newcomers to life, since the oldest virus discovered is about 500 million years old aprox

My guess is that theyre some form of parasitic organism that essentially shed most of what we consider normal for a cell and went full parasite although I cant think of a mechanism for that though, so its just another castle in the sky

>>2177321
>intelligent people

>>2176371
It's different for each virus. RNA and DNA viruses both are very different.

My favorite viruses are the ones that use reverse transcriptase. And there's so many ways that it can be used as well.

>>2176339
>animals and nature
>Posts about non living proteins
Do you want to have a thread about amino acids too?

>>2180102
Are viruses not a part of nature?

>>2180102
>THEY DOESN'T ALIVE!!!
>THESE ARBITRARY, POORLY-DEFINED CRITERIA SAY SO!!!1!1!
Shitpost elsewhere

>>2180138
It's not poorly defined.

Do you call chemical reactions life as well? Because that's really all a virus is. A protein causing a self replicating reaction.

>>2180102
>non living proteins
Don't you mean nucleic acids?

>>2176339
Why do some virus kill their hosts? If the host is dead then they won't have any more cells to infect.

who /herpes/ here

>>2180302
Simplex or Zoster?

>>2180279
same reason you get old and die.

it doesn't matter what happens to you after they reproduce and move on to the next host. So as long as that happens before you die they're good to go.

>>2180325
both

>>2180347
my sympathies, anon. you have no manner of luck whatsoever

>>2180102
how can the sum of deterministic chemical processes be alive, or have free will for that matter?

>>2180329
>>2180279
nah, those are usually a case of host mismatch. Like bird flu for example. Great at replicating in birds, but whoops, got into a human. Not smart enough to adapt to humans? Too bad, human died!

>>2180302
Yep. If we're having a "bad luck" contest, here's my entry:

>17 years old
>lost virginity to person I was really into
>used condom, took things slow
>got genital herpes
>cried like a bitch

Lucikly, my life isn't over, but I thought it was for a while there.