Viruses are not an organism at all. They are not alive. They are nonliving. They are like cockle burrs that "grab" hold of your clothing or a dogs coat. They are hijackers. Once they get attached to the cell of a living cell, they can take it over and "make" the living cell produce virus particles instead of cell parts. These parts can assemble into more viruses and then they breakout of the cell (killing it) and begin the process again. They can not make more viruses on their own.
They are very small and can be considered microscopic. We have to use an electron microscope to see them as they are that small.
Scientists do not classify viruses as living things because they lack key characteristics of living organisms, such as the ability to reproduce and carry out metabolic processes on their own. Viruses are considered biological entities that require a host cell to replicate.
Scientists classify living things because then it's easier to share information, study, & discuss these living things.
Aristotle
Np
Scientists do not classify viruses as living things because they are not made of one or more cells (C). Viruses lack cellular structure and cannot carry out metabolic processes independently; they require a host cell to replicate. This fundamental difference in their nature compared to living organisms is why they are excluded from traditional biological classification.
To be able to study all the living things in our universe, we need a way to group or classify them together. Scientists divided all things into living and non-living. Then they divided those (e.g. animal kindom and plant kingdom, then continued dividing them on how the items were seimilar or dissimilar).
The smallest group into which scientists classify living things is a species. A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
ugly
The term used by scientists to classify all living things is "taxonomy". Taxonomy is the branch of science that deals with the identification, naming, and classification of organisms based on their characteristics and evolutionary relationships.
scientist classify parts of an ecosystem by biotic things (living things) and abiotic things ( nonliving things).
Are you sure this is true? Because if it is then other stuff will happen.
Viruses do not behave like other living cells. For one, they can only reproduce within other organisms. And essentially that is about all they do. Granted there are negative reprocussions for the host organism, but the virus itself simply multiplies. Viruses are also smaller than cells and can use even simple bacteria as a host. They are considered to be more like "free floating chemical agents."