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Essay Archive - Viruses: Complex Molecules or Simple Life Forms?
Viruses: Complex Molecules or Simple Life Forms?
Viruses have been defined as "entities whose genomes are elements of
nucleic acid that replicate inside living cells using the cellular synthetic
machinery, and cause the synthesis of specialised elements that can transfer the
genome to other cells." They are stationaryand are unable to grow. Because of
all these factors, it is debatable whether viruses are the most complex of
molecules or the simplest life forms. While the definition of living organisms
must be adapted, the majority of evidence leads to the classification of viruses
as living organi....
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