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EvC Forum ⇒ Science Forums ⇒ Origin of Life ⇒

What is Life?

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Author Topic:   What is Life?
Dr Jack
Member (Idle past 133 days)
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003

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Message 89 of 268 (593086)
11-24-2010 7:53 AM 		Reply to: Message 72 by Dr Adequate
11-23-2010 12:19 PM

Re: Viruses Again
I'm in the Viruses are not life camp, myself (and that, as far as I can tell, puts me in the same camp as the majority of Biologists - although perhaps not Virologists themselves).
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So, just to clarify.
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* Biology is the study of life.
* Viruses are (per your favored definition) not life.
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So, tell me. If someone spends his whole scientific career studying viruses ... does that mean that he is not a biologist?
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No, because the study of viruses is necessarily linked to the study of the living host of viruses. You cannot understand a virus without also understanding certain aspects of their hosts.
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Dr Jack
Member (Idle past 133 days)
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003

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Message 98 of 268 (593228)
11-25-2010 11:10 AM 		Reply to: Message 92 by Dr Adequate
11-24-2010 10:57 AM

Five Clumsy reasons why viruses are not alive
I found a rather good blog post arguing against a 2009 paper that argued viruses are not alive. It seems pertinent.
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Dr Jack
Member (Idle past 133 days)
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003

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Message 157 of 268 (594397)
12-03-2010 10:59 AM 		Reply to: Message 151 by cavediver
12-03-2010 9:08 AM

Re: the actual problem
So light of 619nm wavelength would be what colour?
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And more importantly what is the qualitative difference between light 619nm and light of 620nm that makes 620 red and 619 not.
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Dr Jack
Member (Idle past 133 days)
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003

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Message 159 of 268 (594402)
12-03-2010 11:11 AM 		Reply to: Message 156 by ringo
12-03-2010 10:56 AM

The point you're trying to make is that a species must reproduce to be alive, even if individual organisms don't reproduce.
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And if you want to use a definition based on species you'll need a good, solid definition of species. Good luck with that.
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