So, /sci/, are viruses alive?

>>8574467
Nahhhh

>>8574467
as alive as fetuses

go back to pole we are sciencing abortions here!

>>8574467
They lack the cellular faculties to be deemed "alive". They do exhibit some traits of living organisms however such as mutation, adaptation, natural selection

keeping in mind that "alive" is just a standard that we've created, no, they're not alive because they don't meet the standards we've set

File: 1477784363353.png (69KB, 474x256px) Image search: [Google]

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Cringiest question I have read all year. Google it first brainlet!

>>8574467
yyepppp

>>8574569
I'm smarter than at least one of the two niggers in this thread, one said yes then one said no. So go tell them to google it, you fucking considerlet.

>>8574467
Yes they are alive when near host, but can also be dormant dead matter. Thus science says, we dont know

>>8574467
Imagine a tube,now put all viruses in that tube.
You get the universe
By that definition viruses are the universe and therefore alive in the soul.

>>8574679
Mind=blown

>>8574686
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFTaiWInZ44

no they have mechanisms for metabolism or protein synthesis and rely on their hosts for those

next question

>>8574467
"alive" is a silly way to understand the world. They are a self replicating system that interacts with other systems.

Don't ask a virologist, they'll tell you viruses are alive

If they are germ-line replicators, they're alive.

>>8574467
A virion infects a cell, takes over, and becomes alive.

>>8574790
I would not call an individual virus a system

>>8574935
religion, science, math (maybe not math) are not real until it's ideas infect its host.

>>8574467
no

>>8574467
based on our arbitrary definition of the word "alive," no.

>>8574790
they're not self-replicating though

>>8575018
Even though they rely on a host to replicate, they do replicate. The use of a host is simply an extended phenotype of the virus which enables it to self-replicate.

>>8575028
What it does is not (((self-)))replicating.

>>8574664
im only 20 iq pts behind a man (einstein) who debunked the majority of physics by thinking about trains. And seeing as physics deals with true complexity and other science do not, its even more reasonable for a 140 to be able to trash your kind than it was for a 160 to trash physics ;)
if ur iq was above 140 u wouldnt be as butthurt about the concept of a 140 hyp grad lurking this beta barn..
so the logical conclusion is that ur iq is lower than 140 (possibly much lower)
if you met me in real life you would instantly be blown into a world where all that mattered was getting me to acknowledge your existence and even hopefully be your friend... But i would probably find you to be a desperately uninteresting person and want you to exit my awareness as fast as possible.
the fact that i dont lie about my iq is what gives me the edge necessary to call you an inferior little girl who couldnt understand basic physics, and BE RIGHT ABOUT IT.
honestly if i woke up one morning and for some reason my thinking capacity had devolved to your level, it would take me less than 5 min to run to the kitchen and slit my throat...
maybe your going to tell me u work at goldman..
but ud still be way inferior, as is anybody who projects their iq to be higher than it is..
maybe thats the point, inferiorboy ;)

>>8575031
I explained to you how it is though. It's a germ-line replicator where the means by which the virus reproduces of itself using a host. Using a host to reproduce is merely an extended phenotype, hence it self-replicates.

humans do not self replicate... they require food

kek

They're almost living, but in the end are just complex protein and sugar structures which prove that nonliving structures can eventually develop attributes which give them a chance at reproducing themselves.