Poll: Is A Virus Alive?

[denem]

(Goodheart asked for a poll)

17 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Time expired
	Yes
	0 (0%)
	Yes - when viral DNA/RNA is inside a host cell
	0 (0%)
	N/A - a moot philosophic argument
	3 (18%)
	No - a virus lacks metabolism
	14 (82%)
	Yes - @ 38.9029N, 77.0406W, K Street
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[SCantiGOP]

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]

4. cf. Microbiology Society debate

https://microbiologysociety.org/publication/past-issues/what-is-life/article/are-viruses-alive-what-is-life.html

[Doodley]

2. Yes, viruses are more than just chemicals.

[Massacure]

3. Yes. Case in point - Donald J. Trump.

[MartyTheGreek]

5. If the person is dead but the virus still lives, then yes, I would say yes it is alive!

https://www.businessinsider.com/first-death-coronavirus-healthcare-caught-from-dead-body-thailand-2020-4

[denem]

7. I've got a live one here

[Doodley]

9. That is a very good argument.

[grantcart]

15. But it isn't alive by itself, it needs a host cell to activate and become alive.

[htuttle]

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]

8. Is autonomous replicating AI alive?

= philosophical argument IMHO

[Doodley]

10. AI is not an animate object. It isn't real. It's an expression of information - a simulation only.

[denem]

13. An IA robot that can reproduce itself by fabrication,

and transfer it's intelligence to the new product.

[Doodley]

18. That sounds like it would be alive.

[Dem2]

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/
...

A single molecule is "life"?

[scrabblequeen40]

12. definition of "live" ability to replicate and grow

so yes, virus is live.

[Demsrule86]

14. There is disagreement on this questiion personally I consider them alive.

[ismnotwasm]

16. It's alive enough to fool our bodies and use our cells.

They look like aliens though

[Baclava]

19. Yes/No/Maybe