What makes virus nonliving?

Answer 1

1. The virus cannot reproduce on its own, it needs to have a host cell to help it reproduce.

2. The virus is not even a single-celled organism!

3. The virus can't even function on its own! The virus needs to have a host cell to live!

4. The virus does not grow on the inside of the protein coat.

5. The virus only has two main parts: the DNA and the protein coat, which protects the DNA.

Answer 2

A virus is usually considered nonliving because:

• it is a parasite, needing to infect a living cell to replicate.
• it has no independent metabolism (everything is done for it by the cell it parasitizes).
• it is just a tiny crystal composed mostly of proteins and one strand of nucleic acid when outside a living cell (a few viruses also include sugar "decorations" on the proteins or a lipid layer around the crystal (this structure was built for it by the living cell its "ancestor" had parasitized).

Answer 3

Viruses lack the ability to carry out metabolic processes on their own, such as generating energy or reproducing. They need a host cell to replicate and are considered nonliving entities because they do not meet all the criteria for life, such as growth and response to stimuli.

Answer 4

Virus survives as nonliving particle outside the host. On coming in contact with suitable host cell virus rapidly multiplies and starts all its actions.