are we alone in the universe?

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Viruses reproduce just fine with only a fraction of the complexity of a full-blown cell. They can't do it without the proper conditions, but given the appropriate environment they manage.

maybe Im not understanding this correctly, but from the way I read it, a virus on its own cannot reproduce, there has to be a full (DNA) based cell for it to infect or take over. A virus is like a parasite, it cannot exists (spread) by itself - it needs the higher lifeform (the DNA cell) to propagate

or am I missing something?

http://biology.about.com/library/weekly/aa110900a.htm