ARE VIRUSES LIVING OR NON LIVING ORGANISMS ?

ARE  VIRUSES  LIVING  OR  NON  LIVING  ORGANISMS ?

Nowadays there are different theories about what viruses are , the biological theory says that viruses are non living organisms because they don’t have their own way to reproduce , they don’t use energy to grow or to respond to the surroundings , basically they don’t follow  living things characteristics, apart from the fact that they replicate while living things reproduce . The other theory says that viruses are living things because they have the ability of reproducing , they have cellular structure and they can replicate DNA.

I believe in the first theory because if viruses don’t follow the basic characteristics of living organisms that are : movement , respiration , sensitivity , growth , reproduction, excretion and nutrition , then thay are non living organisms . Other of the reasons why i think that viruses are non living organisms is that they are not able to carry out properties outside the host living cell, so that means that outside the living cell, viruses are inert particles that can even be crystallized .