Wednesday: November 12, 9:30 a.m. – 12 noon
Bethany Congregational Church 556 N. Hope Avenue, Santa Barbara
VISTAS member price: $20; non-member price $30
Presented by: Bruce Phillips
Most people believe that viruses are the smallest living entity on earth. However, there are difficulties with this notion. First is whether viruses are alive. Years ago, virologists agreed they were. Nowadays, most virologists have changed their minds. Viruses can only replicate by invading and hijacking the cellular machinery of a host organism and cannot reproduce on their own. The second difficulty is that there are several entities capable of reproduction but much smaller and simpler than viruses. Maybe the answer lies in how one defines “life.” The challenge is to understand these various entities and how we conceptualize them.