Classy_Maggot t1_j5jerxt wrote on January 23, 2023 at 12:54 PM

Reply to comment by Ok_Motor_2609 in How do we know how old viruses are? by Darth_Fatass

Yes viruses have DNA, and a protein body to aid in moving around and injecting into a target cell that's it. That's why they're not really quite an alive entity Because there are no self sustaining cellular organs that bacteria and etc have

Belzeturtle t1_j5jlggx wrote on January 23, 2023 at 1:54 PM

Some do, some don't. There's a pretty recent well-known virus that doesn't have DNA. Something with a corona in the name. The corresponding disease is COVID-19.

LittleCreepy_ t1_j65vdm6 wrote on January 27, 2023 at 10:47 PM

Well, I understood dna to mean genetic basis in the context of this discussion, but yes. There are in fact RNA and DNA Viruses, which can further be divided in coding and non-coding strand (+ and -) based "liveforms".

There are also Prions, proteins that fold others with the same base aminoacid-chain into the same 3D struckture, in a kind of replication.

Viroids are naked, or non protein or membrane, associated chains of RNA, able to infect plants and responsible for some interesting patterns on some flowers.

To complete the picture there are also gigant virus out there, with their own molecular maschinery responsible for about halve of our atmospheric O2.

These are complex little suckers. And I both love them for it and hate them with a passion.