First, context: a "life/not-life" distinction is far more "science" than science - widespread in "science" education, but rarely comes up in science research. (Might be interesting to create a list of similar?) Why the emphasis there... I don't know - perhaps because we teach by memorizing definitions and lists, not by learning design spaces and their landmarks? Or at least by giving exemplars without characterizing variance.
One of the few places I've seen it come up in science, was ecosystem multi-scale simulation software. Where virus was squarely in the heritable characteristics under selection pressure ("life") bucket, rather than abiotic or biogenic.
Informal "do you think of viruses as alive?" seems to vary by field. I've seen a marine bio labs be overwhelmingly yes. I've been told medical immunology leans no. But it seems more social-media engagement question than research question or synthesis.
One of the few places I've seen it come up in science, was ecosystem multi-scale simulation software. Where virus was squarely in the heritable characteristics under selection pressure ("life") bucket, rather than abiotic or biogenic.
Informal "do you think of viruses as alive?" seems to vary by field. I've seen a marine bio labs be overwhelmingly yes. I've been told medical immunology leans no. But it seems more social-media engagement question than research question or synthesis.