concept that an organism should be able toreact to a stimulus.

Briefly describe each of the nine properties and discuss how
things like a virus, prion, and viroid canreproduce, but are not
considered to be alive. Address the question: how can things like
these that are notconsidered to be alive “evolve”?In order for
something to be considered alive, part of its behaviors, life
history and/or traits should fulfill each ofthe nine properties of
life. The first property of life is order, or the ability of an
organism to function and maintainhomeostasis. Eventually this means
an organism can regulate itself biologically so that it is not
subjecting itself tophysical entropy.The second property of life is
metabolism. Metabolism and order go hand in hand. Organisms must
obtain and/orcreate energy and be able to convert it into a usable
form that helps with bodily processes and regulating
homeostasis.Without sound metabolic function, organisms would not
be able to thrive and their bodily functions would not
bepredictable. The third property of life is motility. Motility is
the ability of an organism to spread and/or move. This comes inmany
forms, from an animal literally walking, to plants shifting towards
the sunlight, to trees seed dispersal, to parasitesusing
hosts/vectors to move. The fourth property of life is
responsiveness. Responsiveness is the concept that an organism
should be able toreact to a stimulus. This means that an organism
has the ability to sense its surroundings. Organisms have a
diversity ofresponses to various physical and chemical cues found
in their environment. The fifth property of life is reproduction.
Reproduction is the process in which the organism has offspring
andproduces progeny with shared genetic information. Reproduction
and fitness are closely linked. The sixth property of life is
development. Development is related to the ability of an organism
to grow andchange ontogenetically. Hence organisms in their natal
form may look and/or act very different than their sexuallymature
form. The seventh property of life is hereditary. Hereditary is the
ability of an organism to gain traits from their parentsand to be
able to give their traits to offspring. Hereditary is closely
linked to reproduction and evolution. Therefore, the eighth
property of life is evolution. Evolution is the ability of a
species to transform over time tobecome more fit and better suited
to its environment. It does this through genetic changes, which
often relate toadaptations. Adaptations are the ninth property of
life, and allow organism to change and respond to their
environment, sothat they can be best suited to a changing habitat,
ecosystem, and relationships with other organisms (Reece
2011).While some of these properties do relate to viruses, prions,
and viroid’s (such as reproduction), we do not consider themalive.
The reason we do not consider them alive is because they are
actually passive and not responsive. They need to encounter (not
actively locate) a cell and then their existence is essentially at
the will of the cell.Viruses, prions, and viroid’s are not
considered alive, yet we do consider them to evolve. They change
depending on thecells they invade and exploit and this occurs
rapidly. So, their evolution is not due to themselves changing, but
rathertheir hosts altered respond