For something to have "life" there are certain minimum requirements. Unless all of these requirements are present together, then there is no life. Here they are:
Life is separated and protected from its immediate environment via a barrier. For a "simple" cell, this means a cell membrane. This barrier must be designed in a way to let nutrients pass through from the environment into the organism, and to allow waste to be removed from the organism and ejected into the environment, without the structural integrity of the organism being compromised.
Life has the ability to write, store, and pass along to progeny encoded and specific information. This information is used to organize internal systems, metabolic functions, reproductive functions and etc.
Life has the ability to read these instructions and perform functions according to these instructions.
Life has the ability to capture, metabolize, store and recall energy for utilization (work). It has the ability to change the energy from its original form into a form usable by itself, and to rid itself of waste byproducts that accumulate in the process of metabolization.
Life has the ability to self-replicate/reproduce itself by passing encoded and specific information for the formation of the next generation of progeny.
Life has the ability to self diagnose and repair its constantly deteriorating physical matrix of encoded and specific information, and the components used in the transmission of that information, and to repair the architecture of its internal systems.
Life has the ability to develop and grow from immature form to mature (able to reproduce) via the encoded and specific information provided by its parent(s).
Life has the ability to react to its environment in such a way that it maximizes its ability to survive, continue to develop and grow, and reproduce.
The encoded and specified information used for replication must be stable enough so that progeny are "copied" accurately enough to survive, but also have a sufficient degree of mutability to allow for adaptation, if necessary.
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