Biology Virus Essay A virus is a microorganism that cannot reproduce without a host. As a result of this, there has been a lot of controversy on whether or not a virus is a living or non-living organism. The dictionary. com definition for life is, “the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. Viruses have characteristics of both living and non-living organisms, for example, a living characteristic includes reproduction. A non-living characteristic of a virus is that they cannot have both DNA and RNA. The living characteristics of viruses state that viruses can reproduce, but viruses can only reproduce with the help of a host. As a result of viruses not being able to replicate on their own, viruses are not living organisms. Viruses are small infectious particles that have nucleic acid.
They can come in many different shapes and sizes.
