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r0botdevil t1_jbp296b wrote

If you're counting viruses as an "organism", which the biological community does not, then the minimum amount of code required is none. Prions are misfolded proteins that have no DNA/RNA whatsoever and are able to "function" in much the same way as a virus by causing other proteins to misfold.

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TTEchironex t1_jbpun8n wrote

This is not a universal sentiment in the biology community and some like myself count viruses as oganisms. And I maintain not counting them is very very stupid. They have lineages, code which evolves over time, and self replicate in the right conditions. Just like every other "organism". If we're counting obligate parasites' as organisms, there's no reason to not count viruses. And there are some viruses bigger than some bacteria with thousands of genes.
Prions on the other hand don't really evolve, it's just the same misfolded protein constantly.

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r0botdevil t1_jbqb0k0 wrote

If there is a virus that can self-replicate, that's news to me. Which viruses do that?

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