‘Virophage’ suggests viruses are alive
The discovery of a giant virus that falls ill through infection by another virus1 is fuelling the debate about whether viruses are alive.
“There’s no doubt this is a living organism,” says Jean-Michel Claverie, a virologist at the the CNRS UPR laboratories in Marseilles, part of France’s basic-research agency. “The fact that it can get sick makes it more alive.”
