JPINFV Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Ye olde freshman bio debate. Is a virus alive? What constitutes "alive" by scientific definitions? One could argue that humans cannot reproduce alone- they require 2 conjugal parties to create another living organism. Viruses cannot reproduce alone- they require a host to hijack machinery from in order to reproduce. Do we make the claim on the basis of RNA vs DNA? How about the presence of an actual cell? Cell machinery? Ability to reproduce independently? Lots of good places to argue from here (as intellectual exercise..) Wendy CO EMT-B I think there's a difference between two organisms of the same species engaging in sexual reproduction to produce offspring capable of reproduction (e.g. humans begeting humans is different than a horse and donkey begeting a mule). To compare sexual reproduction to virus reproduction (I'd argue that asexual reproduction doesn't apply to viruses either) would be like saying that sperm can only fertilize an egg if they come in contact in a non-human cell. If one modified the definition to allow reproduction by any means, then we could in fact include viruses and prions...as well as computer viruses and even social memes (ideas..fads...even the "25 Things" surveys on Facebook). Edit: Just realized a flaw in my statement. Tis fixed now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERDoc Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Interesting viewpoints so far. Keep them coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustdevil Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I've got a cousin who is a professor of cellular biology at Washington University med school in St. Louis. While touring his laboratory once, he was explaining to me how they were dissecting individual cells with the use of an electron microscope. I asked him if he ever considered that those cells might possibly be sentient beings who experience terrible pain when being dissected alive. He very quickly replied, "No! And I don't want to know either." Ignorance is bliss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crotchitymedic1986 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 can someone suggest where i can get a porn tape of virusus getting it on ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERDoc Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 can someone suggest where i can get a porn tape of virusus getting it on ? It's pretty hot. Hope you can take it crotchity. http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p...d=0001146739553 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arizonaffcep Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I would argue that viruses are not alive because they lack the ability to independently reproduce as well as grow. They inject their own genetic material (and possibly a few proteins depending on the type of DNA or RNA transmitted) and and another organism for all of the normal functions of life. This is different than, say, a parasite which needs another organism to provide a source of nutrition or a proper environment, but still carry out all of their own cellular functions. If a virus is alive, then it could very well be argued that a prion is alive. If prions are considered alive, then there really isn't much distinction between alive and not alive. I heard of a Mesa Fire Chief who did this once... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B the EMT Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Just to stir the mix a bit, what about the Sci-Fi of an invasion of Earth by self-aware, sentient viruses, sent to take over individuals and have the infected individuals do their bidding? Bring on the Pod People, or that disaster of a movie, "The Stuff". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firemedic197 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Just to stir the mix a bit, what about the Sci-Fi of an invasion of Earth by self-aware, sentient viruses, sent to take over individuals and have the infected individuals do their bidding? Bring on the Pod People, or that disaster of a movie, "The Stuff". If the come to take over humans I would say they were alive and very highly evolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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