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| Submission declined on 26 November 2023 by Theroadislong (talk). Thank you for your submission, but the subject of this article already exists in Wikipedia. You can find it and improve it at Cell (biology) instead. | |
Cells:
The Building Blocks of Life
A characteristic is a feature or a quality that’s typical of a person or thing. Here are some characteristics of life that all living things possess:
- use of energy - disposal of waste - growth and development - senses and responses to stimuli - protection from changes in the environment - reproduction - a defined boundary that gives the organism its shape - internal organization, which helps organisms to carry out basic functions - one or more cells
Stimuli: anything that causes a reaction in the body Cells: the smallest functional building block of an organism
homeostasis: the ability to stabilize internal conditions when surrounded by changing external conditions
Viruses have some characteristics of living things:
- They have genetic material that carries information on producing more viruses. - They reproduce in cells of other organisms to create more viruses. - They have internal organization, including genetic material and various proteins. - They can adapt to their environment to protect themselves from being destroyed by the cells they infect.
But viruses lack some important characteristics of life:
- They lack cells and do not respire and excrete waste. - They can reproduce only inside the cells of living organisms. - Some viruses have DNA, but others have a different type of genetic material, known as RNA. All living things use both DNA and RNA. - They do not use energy.
These characteristics show us that viruses don’t seem like living things when they are on their own. But, when they invade cells of a living organism, they start showing characteristics of life. They use the cell’s energy and internal organization to replicate, or reproduce. They have the ability to greatly change the organism they infect.
All viruses are pathogens because they damage the cells of living things. But exposure to viruses has also benefited humans.