@Eric F
As suggested by Jean-Michel Claverie, virion factory better represents the ‘virus self’ and virions are simply means to disseminate genetic information much like human gametes and plant seeds [
]. In other words, we should depart from the established usage of the word ‘virus’ as being synonymous to ‘virion’. The term ‘virus’ should refer to the process encompassing all phases of the virus infection cycle []. In this context, questioning the origin of ‘viruses’ takes a completely different and much broader meaning than simply questioning the origin of the virus particles