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Author Topic:   What is Life?
Dr Jack
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Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


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).
So, just to clarify.
* Biology is the study of life.
* Viruses are (per your favored definition) not life.
So, tell me. If someone spends his whole scientific career studying viruses ... does that mean that he is not a biologist?
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.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 72 by Dr Adequate, posted 11-23-2010 12:19 PM Dr Adequate has replied

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 Message 92 by Dr Adequate, posted 11-24-2010 10:57 AM Dr Jack has replied

  
Dr Jack
Member
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


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
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


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?
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
Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


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.
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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