viruse debate: Are they alive?

[Steven_H Harwood]

forgive me for being too pithy.  -Steve

On 20 Jan 1995, Denni Schnapp wrote:

> 
> Re. Tara de Costa's query about the aliveness of viruses: I would not put
> it as crude as Steven Harwood ("to live is to excrete") but he has a point!
> Selection pressure comes in there somewhere! I like Steven Levy's ("Artifi-
> cial Life", Penguin Books 1993) suggestion that perhaps we should look at
> the difference between "life" and "dead" more as a diffuse transition, viruses
> being more alive than rocks and less alive than their hosts... Any suggestions?
> 
> Greetings from bonny Scotland,
> 
> 
> Denni (ds4 at st-and.ac.uk)
> 
>