Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Alien viruses 
Name: Jacqueline Tostades
Status: N/A 
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Do viruses exist in outer space? And if they do, could we put them on other planets to see if life exists there?


Replies:
I do not think that viruses exist in outer space, because viruses need some other living organism - a host - to grow and make more viruses. Your second question is a moral issue as well a s as a scientific one. SHOULD we add things to a novel environment, before we have a pretty good idea of whether that addition will be fatal or damaging to that new environment? What do YOU think about that?

Steve J Triezenberg


Click here to return to the Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory