They are no more alive than a computer virus is an operating system. It's just a pre-packaged piece of genetic code that hacks the protein synthesis function of a cell and forces it to make more virus particles, destroying them in the process. Many infect particular cells so that the body's immune response and/or normal processes facilitate distribution to other hosts.
But without living cells they are nothing but inert protein capsules.
I don't know anything about them being extra-terrestrial, or what would motivate someone into adopting such a position. Seems unlikely to me.
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