179k views
5 votes
Are viruses alive? The scientific debate continues. Viruses exhibit some characteristics of life, but others are missing. The MOST obvious reason why scientists still refer to viruses as non-living is that they

A. do not change over time.
B) do not contain any genetic material.
C) are much smaller than anything alive.
D) are not composed of one or more cells.

1 Answer

4 votes

They are not composed of cells. And one of eight characteristics of life say that all living things are composed of cells. Therefore, a virus would have to have in order to be considered a living thing.

User Gcochard
by
8.6k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.