Preview

Viruses vs. Kingdom of Life Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
324 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Viruses vs. Kingdom of Life Essay Example
Viruses vs. Kingdom of Life
BIOLOGY

Viruses vs. Kingdom of Life

The purpose of this assignment is to discussing the classification of viruses within the six kingdoms of life, and whether if viruses belong to any of the six kingdoms.

All living things can be categorize into one of six kingdoms, and they share five basic properties. All living organisms share common characteristics, and they share five basic properties. They are: cellular organization, metabolism, homeostasis, growth and reproduction, and heredity. (Johnson, 2010, p. 15) Those living things are categorized into six groups called Kingdoms. The six kingdoms are Bacteria, Archaea, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia.

Viruses are a mixture of nucleic acid and protein, even though viruses don’t have the abilities to reproduce their own kind, but they can replicate themselves by using their host cell’s DNA. Furthermore, viruses are not living organisms, because they don’t share any of those five basic properties in the six kingdoms. Viruses are literally “parasitic” chemicals, segments of DNA (or sometimes RNA) wrapped in a protein coat. (Johnson, 2010, p. 299)

If viruses don’t belong to any of six kingdoms, where do they belong to? Could viruses be the aliens which Steven Benner was arguing about in the article Aliens Among Us? A number of researchers now theorize that DNA-based life evolved from an RNA-based predecessor. RNA is an unusual molecule that can both store genetic information and act like an enzyme, cutting apart other molecules or putting them together. (Zimmer, Jul2007)

In conclusion viruses do not belong in any kingdom of life and apparently they do not contribute anything to the six kingdoms of life.

Works Cited

Johnson, G. (2010). Essential of The Living World. New York City : The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Zimmer, C. (Jul2007). ALIENS AMONG US. Discover Magazine, Vol. 28, Issue

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Curley's Wifes Diary

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What are the 4 Kingdoms that organisms can be classified into? (4 marks) There are animals, plants, micro organisms and fungi.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 22

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Viruses are disease producing agents far smaller than bacteria, They are enclosed in a protein coating which makes them more difficult to destroy.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Viruses – A viruses is a small capsule that holds DNA or RNA, viruses, unlike bacteria are not self-sufficient and need a ‘host’ in order to reproduce, for example: ‘Human Body’. When a virus enters the body, it enters some certain cells and takes over making them the new ‘host cell’ which makes the parts the virus needs to reproduce, the cells are eventually destroyed through this process. The most common virus is the ‘common cold’ which has no cure.…

    • 1087 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    unit 4222-265

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Most viruses are too small to be seen directly with a light microscope. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viruses are made up of proteins and nucleic acids, they aren’t living whereas the others are. Viruses invade cells. They do not breathe or feed.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. A virus is a small parasite that cannot reproduce by itself. Once it infects a susceptible cell, however, a virus can direct the cell to produce many more viruses. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, such as animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.…

    • 1508 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Virus Quiz

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A virus may not kill a host cell but may become inactive for a period…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    icsja

    • 2159 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Links to pages in the CGP Revision Guide and weblinks Biology Unit B1 - Topic 1 Classification, variation and inheritance 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Links Demonstrate an understanding of how biologists classify organisms according to how closely they are related to one another including: a Species – groups of organisms that have many features in common b Genus – contains several species with similar characteristics c Family – comprising of several genera d Order – comprising of several families e Class – comprising of several orders f Phylum – comprising of several classes g The Five Kingdoms – animalia, plantae, fungi, protoctista and prokaryotes Describe the main characteristics of the five kingdoms including: a Animalia – multicellular, do not have cell walls, do not have chlorophyll, feed heterotrophically b Plantae – multicellular, have cell walls, have chlorophyll, feed autotroprically c Fungi – multicellular, have cell walls, do not have chlorophyll, feed saprophytically d Protoctista – unicellular, have a nucleus…

    • 2159 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap Biology Free Response

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A. The three-domain system allows for the conclusion that the previous five kingdoms were more connected than was believed. Out of the five previous kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, Protista, Fungi, and Monera, four of the five kingdoms were placed in the same domain- Eukarya. The one remaining kingdom was separated into two domains- Bacteria and Archaea. This separation was unusual as it was previously thought that Bacteria and Archaea were closely related, as they were both prokaryotic. It is now thought that Archaea is more closely related to Eukarya than it is to Bacteria.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viruses- peices of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein that replicate only within the cells of living hosts.…

    • 652 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Observations- Throughout the lad we viewed many different organisims and many different traits. This lab takes a look at the three domains Bacteria, Archea, and Eukarya, which contain animals, protists, fungi, bacteria, and plants. And throughout the lab we uncovered what makes each plant different and what makes each animal in a set kingdom different. The results of our observations were recorded and analyzed from the results that follow. Observations of species and their traits that came from either divergent or convergent evolution were recorded and analysis of each kingdom…

    • 2841 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viruses. Is an acellular agent smaller than bacteria consisting mainly of genetic material, that can be active in a close environments ranging from the common cold to AIDS.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bacteria are microbes with a single cell. There is no nucleus or membrane within bacteria, making its structure simpler than that of other organisms. Instead, the genetic information is contained in a single loop of DNA. Viruses are microscopic organisms consisting of genetic material surrounded by proteins, lipids, or glycoprotein coats. Fungi can be multicellular or single celled organisms. They can be found in almost any habitat but most live on land. A group of fungi called the decomposers grow in the soil and play an important role in the cycling of carbon and other elements. A Parasite is an organism that lives within another organism (the host). It is dependant on the host for its survival as it cannot live independently.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viruses are DNA wrapped in a thin coat of protein that replicates only within the living hosts.…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    VIRUSES – viruses are smaller than bacteria and can only be seen under a microscope, they can only multiply in living cells. A virus is a simple structure. It is not a cell nor is it living. A virus is simply a coat of protein wrapped around genetic material. Below is an image of a virus and its structure, with labels identifying what a virus is made up off:…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays