Viruses are not as clear cut as most other organisms. There are so many different varieties, virologists and cell biologists struggle to classify them according to Scitable by Nature Education. The origin of viruses may begin with genetic elements moving between cells. But they could equally be previously free-living organisms that became parasites. Viruses could even be the forerunners of life as we know it…
What We Do Know of Viruses to Date
Some viruses have RNA genomes, while others have DNA ones. DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (DNA) is the long term store of genetic information. Whereas RiboNucleic Acid (RNA) carries out the instructions contained in the DNA. Accordingly, the ways they replicate themselves are diverse.
Fortunately, there are three similarities making viruses a little easier to understand according to Scitable:
1… Viruses are small, typically less than 200 nanometers wide. A human hair is at least 80,000 nanometers thick.
2… Viruses cannot reproduce their species. They can only replicate copies of themselves inside a host cell. But sometimes there are errors.
3… No known virus contains ribosomes. These interpret messenger RNA to produce proteins from amino acids.
The Origin of Viruses: Are They Alive?
Biologically speaking, something is alive if it can grow, reproduce, maintain internal stability, respond to stimuli, and carry out various metabolic processes. Living organisms also evolve over time to become more effective.
Viruses lack several of these essential factors necessary for independent existence. Therefore, they are not ‘alive’ by the biological definition. Some scientists suggest they are a different type of organism on the tree of life, whereby we developed out of the primordial swamp to where we are now.
We’ll discuss where viruses came from in the next post in this series. However where they are headed for is anybody’s guess, like so much else in this life.
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