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Frequently asked questions Q1: Are viruses alive?
A1: Opinions differ on whether viruses are a form of life, or organic structures that interact with living organisms. They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life",
[1] since they resemble organisms in that they possess genes and evolve by natural selection,
[2] and reproduce by creating multiple copies of themselves through self-assembly. However, although they have genes, they do not have a cellular structure, which is often seen as the basic unit of life. Additionally, viruses do not have their own
metabolism, and require a host cell to make new products. They therefore cannot reproduce outside a host cell (although bacterial species such as rickettsia and chlamydia are considered living organisms despite the same limitation). Accepted forms of life use
cell division to reproduce, whereas viruses spontaneously assemble within cells, which is analogous to the autonomous growth of
crystals. Virus self-assembly within host cells has implications for the study of the
origin of life, as it lends further credence to the hypothesis that life could have started as self-assembling organic molecules.
[3]
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As an intelligent, non scientific adult who is keen to better understand this pandemic, I'm grateful to all of you -- writers, editors - who have developed this article. Plain language intended for non-scientists is exactly what we need. Too many scientific Wikipedia articles are written by scientists for scientists - and continue to mystify the masses. THank you,thank you, thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2607:FEA8:BEA0:D640:B036:6B5:AF34:D50 ( talk) 10:50, 11 May 2020 (UTC)
it's not often someone provides such positive feedback, thank you very much. Read-write-services ( talk) 12:49, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
Is there a difference between viruses and bacteria for whether infection is typically local or systemic? When we get a cut on our skin, we are concerned about a bacterial infection, not a viral one. We can treat such an infection by locally applying antiseptic or even by lopping off a gangrenous foot. The only such viral skin infection I can think of are warts. Even viruses that cause symptoms on the skin (herpes viruses like cold sores or chicken pox) appear to infect us more deeply than that. I can see that some viral infections that cause diarrhoea replicate in the gut, and those that cause chest infections replicate in our lungs. Both are internal epithelial cells. But are there any others that replicate in the skin, or remain tightly localised in the body? The Infection#Bacterial or viral repeats this ideal that viruses are more commonly systemic than bacterial infections. Why should that be? -- Colin° Talk 15:39, 8 November 2021 (UTC)
Graham Beards, MOS:PAGERANGE changed sometime in the years I wasn't paying attention, so I've fixed my damage here. Could you check these page ranges, as I'm concerned whether there is a typo:
Is the first supposed to be 11 to 21, or is 21 transposed from 12? SandyGeorgia ( Talk) 17:06, 22 March 2022 (UTC)
would this article be more appropriate for https://en.wikiversity.org more than Wikipedia? Wikiversity is also a Wikimedia project.... limitless peace. Michael Ten ( talk) 13:34, 18 October 2022 (UTC)
In the lead, second to last paragraph, one can read:
"Viruses, especially those made of RNA, can..."
Is this to mean that the whole virus is actually made of RNA, or just its genes? Since the lead stated earlier that their genes are built from either DNA or RNA, I would guess the latter, in which case I would suggest clarifying this. For example:
"Viruses, especially those with genes made of RNA, can..." Ribidag ( talk) 09:13, 4 March 2023 (UTC)