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sfurbo t1_jbq50cl wrote

Reply to comment by Awwkaw in I just learned that the known shortest DNA in an “organism” is about 1700 base pairs in a certain virus. Is there a minimum amount of “code” required for an organism (or virus) to function in any capacity? by mcbergstedt

The virus can reproduce, it just requires a very specific environment to do so, including specific molecules that are only produced by other life, such as ribosomes.

Humans require very specific environments to survive, including a long list of chemicals that are only produced by other life, such as vitamins.

The requirements for the virus are a lot more specific, but there is nothing fundamentally different in them.

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Awwkaw t1_jbq6bqd wrote

No, the virus cannot reproduce.

It simply does not have the parts to reproduce. Only instructions on how to produce it. A virus is even worse at reproducing than Ikea chairs:, the chairs bring both the parts and the manual, the virus only comes with the manual. The extremely specific conditions you mention do not allow the virus to reproduce, it allows the host cell to produce the virus.

You might not like the definition of the word, but it is what it is.

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