the_red_scimitar t1_irnyrgv wrote on October 9, 2022 at 6:32 PM

Reply to comment by wintersdark in What lifeform has the shortest genetic sequence? by teafuck

Yeah, but when it comes to not replicating, and needing another life form to do so.. sounds like an analog for sexual reproduction. Virus needs some of the mechanisms in another cell in order to produce. A human needs some of the mechanisms in the opposite sex in order to reproduce.

Sexual reproduction as such, it is not a requirement for life, it's just one of the most common ways life works here.

wintersdark t1_irojqsf wrote on October 9, 2022 at 8:50 PM

Sounds like maybe but isn't.

Two members of a species being required for reproduction is still reproduction done within a species. The new human is grown of the mother, with the input of the same species male's genetic code to ensure diversity. It's not like the human male slaps the females bottom, which causes her to suddenly start continuously producing human males over and over again until she dies.

Many creatures reproduce by simply dividing too, but in that case as well the new creature is literally made of the parent creature. They reproduce.

If you're looking at what's actually happening and not a stand-off analogy, the end result is:

Viruses do not eat
Viruses do not reproduce. Target cells do not just provide the environment for reproduction(we don't care about environments), they actually do the reproduction, not just host it. The new viruses are literally made entirely of and by the host creature's cells. Viruses neither seed, spore, divide, bud, lay eggs, or birth babies.