CNRS UMR 8621 Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, Univ Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
Orig Life Evol Biosph. 2010 Apr;40(2):151-60. doi: 10.1007/s11084-010-9194-1. Epub 2010 Mar 3.
Are viruses alive? Until very recently, answering this question was often negative and viruses were not considered in discussions on the origin and definition of life. This situation is rapidly changing, following several discoveries that have modified our vision of viruses. It has been recognized that viruses have played (and still play) a major innovative role in the evolution of cellular organisms. New definitions of viruses have been proposed and their position in the universal tree of life is actively discussed. Viruses are no more confused with their virions, but can be viewed as complex living entities that transform the infected cell into a novel organism-the virus-producing virions. I suggest here to define life (an historical process) as the mode of existence of ribosome encoding organisms (cells) and capsid encoding organisms (viruses) and their ancestors. I propose to define an organism as an ensemble of integrated organs (molecular or cellular) producing individuals evolving through natural selection. The origin of life on our planet would correspond to the establishment of the first organism corresponding to this definition.
病毒是活的吗？直到最近，回答这个问题通常是否定的，在讨论生命的起源和定义时，病毒通常不被考虑。这种情况正在迅速改变，因为有几项发现改变了我们对病毒的看法。人们已经认识到，病毒在细胞生物的进化中发挥了（并仍在发挥）重大的创新作用。已经提出了新的病毒定义，并积极讨论了它们在宇宙生命之树中的位置。病毒不再与它们的病毒粒子混淆，而是可以被视为将感染细胞转化为新生物体——产生病毒粒子的病毒的复杂生命体。在这里，我建议将生命（一个历史过程）定义为核糖体编码生物（细胞）和衣壳编码生物（病毒）及其祖先的存在方式。我建议将生物体定义为通过自然选择进化的产生个体的整合器官（分子或细胞）的集合。我们星球上生命的起源将对应于建立符合这一定义的第一个生物体。
