Question

What is lacking in a virus that makes it non living outside a host?

Answer 1

virus possess only protein coat and a genetic material they have no cell machinery like mitochondria or golgi bodies of its own. so they are consider as dead in outer environment
but when they come in contact with any cell it uses cells machinery and here replicates itself

Answer 2

Answer:

The virus only has genetic material either in DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein capsid and may or may not have a lipid envelope over the proteinaceous outer covering.