Answer:
Virus are small infectious particles which act as intracellular parasites. They are considered non-living when they are present outside their host because they show no metabolism outside. Â
They do not have even cellular level of organization and are basically just packages of nucleic acid and protein. Still, virus have some important features which are common with cell-based life like the presence of nucleic acid as their genetic material. Â
Apart from the presence of genetic material they also have the ability to evolve like the cell-based life. This evolution allows them to be selected naturally and produce more offspring.