Kostyrka, Gladys (Author)
Important roles in origin of life (OL) scenarios have been and still are attributed to viruses. Yet the strict dependence of viruses on cells for their multiplication has been widely acknowledged since the first decades of the 20th century. How could viruses play critical roles in the OL if life relies on cellular organization and if viruses are defined as parasites of cells? In other words, how could viruses play a role in the emergence of cellular life if the existence of cells is a prerequisite for the existence of viruses? This paper investigates this issue and describes past and current OL scenarios conferring viruses with important roles, thereby completing the work of historian of science and physician Scott Podolsky who identified three major roles of viruses in past OL scenarios. Some objections raised by present OL scenarios conferring viruses with an important role are discussed. I argue that disagreements concerning the roles of viruses in OL scenarios stem from the different concepts of life and of virus scientists defend. Investigating the roles of viruses in OL scenarios not only helps identifying different ways to define life in the context of OL theorizing. It also offers the opportunity to better understand how viruses could be conceptualized. The relevance of the replication-first versus metabolism-first dichotomy in OL theorizing is briefly discussed.
...More
Book
Gregory J. Morgan;
(2022)
Cancer Virus Hunters: A History of Tumor Virology
(/isis/citation/CBB284978916/)
Article
Patrick Forterre;
(2016)
To be or not to be alive: How recent discoveries challenge the traditional definitions of viruses and life
(/isis/citation/CBB294214713/)
Article
López-García, Purificación;
(2012)
The Place of Viruses in Biology in Light of the Metabolismversus-Replication-First Debate
(/isis/citation/CBB001251464/)
Article
Gregory J. Morgan;
(2016)
What is a virus species? Radical pluralism in viral taxonomy
(/isis/citation/CBB950706395/)
Thesis
Yamashita, Grant Joo;
(2006)
On the Germ-Soma Distinction in Evolutionary Biology: A Historical and Conceptual Approach
(/isis/citation/CBB001560834/)
Book
Laurie Garrett;
(1994)
The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance
(/isis/citation/CBB312042746/)
Article
Boyden, Stephen;
Blanden, Robert;
Mims, Cedric;
(2013)
Frank John Fenner 1914--2010
(/isis/citation/CBB001211871/)
Book
Renilde Loeckx;
(2017)
Cold War Triangle: How Scientists in East and West Tamed HIV
(/isis/citation/CBB891292434/)
Article
K.-B.G. Scholthof;
(2004)
Tobacco mosaic virus: A model system for plant biology
(/isis/citation/CBB391323763/)
Article
Michael F. Good;
Scott A. Ritchie;
Darryl McGinn;
Richard C. Russell;
(2018)
Brian Herbert Kay 1944–2017
(/isis/citation/CBB060773603/)
Article
K.-B.G. Scholthof;
(2017)
Spicing up the N gene: F. O. Holmes and Tobacco mosaic virus resistance in Capsicum and Nicotiana plants
(/isis/citation/CBB043730490/)
Article
Libby Robin;
Jon C. Day;
(2020)
Maxwell Frank Cooper Day 1915–2017
(/isis/citation/CBB742627209/)
Book
Dorothy H. Crawford;
(2017)
Ebola: Profile of a Killer Virus
(/isis/citation/CBB413078075/)
Book
Bertolaso, Marta;
(2015)
The Future of Scientific Practice: “Bio-Techno-Logos”
(/isis/citation/CBB001422487/)
Review
Susan Double;
(2015)
Review of "Return of the Phasmid: Australia's Rarest Insect Fights Back from the Brink of Extinction"
(/isis/citation/CBB592520786/)
Review
James Drown;
(2015)
Review of "Nature's Line: George Goyder, Surveyor, Environmentalist, Visionary"
(/isis/citation/CBB913503567/)
Review
Margaret Sankey;
(2015)
Review of "Dumont d'Urville: Explorer & Polymath"
(/isis/citation/CBB158922679/)
Review
Ben Maddison;
(2015)
Review of "Shackleton's Heroes: The Epic Story of the Men Who Kept the Endurance Expedition Alive"
(/isis/citation/CBB465848401/)
Review
Andrew Turner;
(2015)
Review of "Australia's War Against Rabbits: The Story of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease"
(/isis/citation/CBB861957125/)
Book
Michael Marshall;
(2020)
The Genesis Quest: The Geniuses and Eccentrics on a Journey to Uncover the Origin of Life on Earth
(/isis/citation/CBB197039817/)
Be the first to comment!