How are viruses similar to living organisms and how are they different?

Answer 1

Viruses are similar to living organisms because both contain hereditary material (RNA or DNA), and both reproduce. Viruses are different from living organisms because they do not use energy to grow, and do not use energy to respond to their surroundings.

Answer 2

I must first stress that Viruses are in fact living organisms.

Major Differences:

*They can produce multiple copies of themselves without actually reproducing.

*They can live/sustain themselves inside another organism.

*Once they have infected another living organism, they can't be completely destroyed, but with the right treatment, the organism can be cured from the infection.

Major Similarities:

*They need food (in this case they receive their nutrients by living off of cells, plants, and bacterias) to sustain themselves.

*They can produce copies of themselves asexually.

Answer 3

both reproduce

but viruses cannot reproduce themselves without help of their hosts, while other "higher" living organism can