• Question: would you say we are mammals or a virus? I say this because like a virus we move to an area, consume all the resources, multiply then move to another area to do the same again.

    Asked by emmanuelamachree to Ben, Dave, Ed, Sam, Susana on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Horrell

      Sam Horrell answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      We do share some destructive tendencies with viruses, we have done a lot of damage to our environment. I would say we are not like a virus though as we are actually trying to fix some of the problems we have created. Viruses are just a mindless combination of proteins that are only out for their own survival.

    • Photo: Benjamin Hall

      Benjamin Hall answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      We are definitely not viruses. Saying a human is like a virus because we share some behaviour with them is like saying a bat is a bird just because it flies or that a dolphin is a fish because it swims.

      Viruses do not have cells, they are just nucleic acids (RNA or DNA) enclosed in a shell of proteins. They aren’t able to reproduce without the aid of a host cell. Some scientists would argue that viruses aren’t even alive!

    • Photo: David Briggs

      David Briggs answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      You been watching the Matrix? 😆

      Yes, we have some superficial characteristic that might be similar to viruses, but we are not viruses – we are mammals – we have warm blood, we spend the start of our life in our mothers womb, we are breast-fed, etc.

      Viruses are just mindless microscopic killing machines.

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