What is life Accord science and ethics, own idia?
SCIENCE Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have self-sustaining biological processes from those which do not either because such functions have ceased (death), or else because they lack such functions and are classified as “inanimate.” In biology, “life” is a quantitative and qualitative characteristic of all functioning organisms (excluding viruses, cf. “non-cellular life”) —such that exhibit continued self-sustaining (biological) processes. A diverse array of living organisms (life forms) can be found in the biosphere on Earth. Properties common to these organisms—plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria — are a carbon- and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information. They undergo metabolism, maintain homeostasis, possess a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, reproduce and, through natural selection, adapt to their environment in successive generations. More complex living organisms can communicate throu
