Are Infectious Viruses Actually Alive?

What is the truth about viruses? They evolve, grow, and can be killed by our immune system, but are they actually alive? Learn all about these ferocious little things in this new episode of SciShow, hosted by Michael Aranda!

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[SciShow]

As someone kindly pointed out, "Mitochondria" is spelled incorrectly at 3:21!

[WanderingYankee]

For one of my biology classes during college, I did my final presentation about the connection between wildfires and the Yellowstone ecosystem. Since my professor was cool, I started off by doing a 'joke intro' about how FIRE is alive because it meets the basic requirements of life since it was capable of 'eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli'. My professor told me afterward that he was disappointed that it was only a joke because I made such a good argument.

[nihilusdirus]

My sister has been a microbiologist for 12 years and she gets HEATED whenever people try to argue that viruses aren’t alive. She’s always been on team “alive, just evolving from a different kind of tree altogether” and I’m glad this video is finally addressing these arguments

[Anonymous-zkwp]

How to make biologists fight each other

Step 1: Ask wether a virus is alive or not

[kotence]

I like the part where it says that viruses can be considered alive once they've infected a cell. It's a bit like a rite of passage, like a graduation: "I'm proud of you, son, you've infected a cell. I now pronounce you alive".

[zeekjones]

"How can a non-living thing evolve?"

Future robot overlords have entered chat.

[joshcheatham]

I've had roommates who don't meet the requirements to be classified as a living creature.

[neonsilver]

I really like the idea of the "replicons and replicators". Seems to simplify things pretty well.

[markmidwest]

9:28 "The way we frame things can influence the kinds of questions we ask."

This little tidbit is a truism and, even though this video is extremely interesting, is the biggest takeaway from a YouTube video I've ever experienced and applies to every walk of life and every discipline. I would like to think I've known this for a while but this is worded so well. Golden wisdom. Thank you.

[kyneticist]

The question itself is flawed. Everything including life, is a gradient of emergent complexity.

[thecrakpt]

I've heard the term "proto-life" or "quasi-life" as good alternatives for these gray area situations

[deliveryman]

2:38 Think you guys forgot to mention the fact that those super large viruses also get preyed on by much smaller viruses, another interesting thing about them.

[regular-joe]

Michael does a fantastic job hosting these episodes. I've enjoyed each one that I've seen.

[dominictemple]

I just realised I haven't watch Scishow for about 5 or 6 years and Michael has gotten what the youth here in the UK used to call hench. This is what happens when your nearly 40 and you've been watching the Green family extended universe for over a decade. Keep up the good work Michael, when I started Hank had a moustache, you're doing a very well.

[bamboolaceway]

Back in High School, my Biology teacher told us that "Scientists are people who ask questions." It is, well, absolutely true. From the simplest, "Why is the sky blue?" to "Why are sunsets red and orange?" it is the questions a scientist asks that propel our knowledge forward.
Great video, thanks for the great content.

[Master_Therion]

Biologist 1: Viruses are alive.
Biologist 2: No they are not alive!
Schrödinger: Why not both?

[NecrozmaJade]

War flashbacks to when I was walking in the park behind a college-age kid who was lecturing his girlfriend on how bacteria can't possibly be alive "because it's not an animal or plant, the two kingdoms of life."

[TechBearSeattle]

This discussion introduces even more awkwardness: at what point is a corpse no longer alive? Many metabolic processes continue after an organism dies, and cells will commonly continue to function until they run out of fuel or accumulate too much waste.

[heidipomeroy]

The only test question I remember from nursing school, some 35 years ago, was "Describe a virus". The answer was "DNA with a protein coat". The micro class I took was a crash coarse and it only touched on the behaviors and needs of microbes. I was fascinated that something so basic could have such a big impact on life and evolution. I've read everything I could over the years about these entities. I envisioned them as little machines that depend on cells as factories with all the machinery they need to replicate. Whether alive or not, they are vital to the existence of our planet. I never tire of learning more about viruses. Thanks for giving me something more to ponder.

[cimachu]

I love this conversation because seeing all these magnitudes of size and complexity of organisms/viruses get so small that it is basically just a molecule just goes to show that at some level, all life is just some chemicals that happen to be good at reproducing and doing things.