Is a Virus Alive? To figure out an explanation of whether a virus is alive or not, the term “alive” will have to be defined first. With the use of the universal term used by biologists (Respiration, Regulation, Reproduction, Excretion, Growth, Nutrition, Transport, Synthesis or R.R.R.E.G.N.T.S. for short). This term can be used to classify whether something is alive or not. Viruses at its core is made of 2 different parts which includes a nucleic acid and a capsid (sometimes also a lipid membrane) (Dr. Ananya Mandal, 2013). By itself, viruses are merely passive and don’t do anything. When encountering a cell it sheds its capsid coating and chemically change the cell functions to start replicating the virus (R. Vincent, 2004). This makes it
