Living things are composed ofbiochemical molecules, formed mainly from a few corechemical elements. All living things contain two types of large molecule,proteins andnucleic acids, the latter usually bothDNA andRNA: these carry the information needed by each species, including the instructions to make each type of protein. The proteins, in turn, serve as the machinery which carries out the many chemical processes of life. Thecell is the structural and functional unit of life. Smaller organisms, includingprokaryotes (bacteria andarchaea), consist of small single cells. Largerorganisms, mainlyeukaryotes, can consist of single cells or may bemulticellular with more complex structure. Life is only known to exist on Earth butextraterrestrial life isthought probable.Artificial life is being simulated and explored by scientists and engineers.
Definitions
Challenge
The definition of life has long been a challenge for scientists and philosophers.[2][3][4] This is partially because life is a process, not a substance.[5][6][7] This is complicated by a lack of knowledge of the characteristics of living entities, if any, that may have developed outside Earth.[8][9] Philosophical definitions of life have also been put forward, with similar difficulties on how to distinguish living things from the non-living.[10]Legal definitions of life have been debated, though these generally focus on the decision to declare a human dead, and the legal ramifications of this decision.[11] At least 123 definitions of life have been compiled.[12]
Since there is no consensus for a definition of life, most current definitions in biology are descriptive. Life is considered a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in the given environment. This implies all or most of the following traits:[4][13][14][15][16][17]
Homeostasis: regulation of the internal environment to maintain a constant state; for example,sweating to reduce temperature.
Organisation: being structurally composed of one or morecells – the basic units of life.
Metabolism: transformation of energy, used to convert chemicals into cellular components (anabolism) and to decompose organic matter (catabolism). Living thingsrequire energy for homeostasis and other activities.
Growth: maintenance of a higher rate of anabolism than catabolism. A growing organism increases in size and structure.
From aphysics perspective, an organism is athermodynamic system with an organised molecular structure that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates.[21][22] Thermodynamically, life has been described as an open system which makes use of gradients in its surroundings to create imperfect copies of itself.[23] Another way of putting this is to define life as "a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoingDarwinian evolution", a definition adopted by aNASA committee attempting to define life for the purposes ofexobiology, based on a suggestion byCarl Sagan.[24][25] This definition, however, has been widely criticised because according to it, a single sexually reproducing individual is not alive as it is incapable of evolving on its own.[26]
Phenomenon of life vs. living individual
"NASA's definition" refers to life as a phenomenon, not a living individual, which makes it incomplete as living individuals do not evolve.[27] Thus alternative, definitions based on the notion of life as a phenomenon and a living individual have been proposed ascontinuum of a self-maintainableinformation, and a distinct element of this continuum, respectively.[28] A major strength of this approach is that it defines life in terms ofmathematics and physics, avoiding biological vocabulary, which inevitably leads topleonasticity.
Others take aliving systems theory viewpoint that does not necessarily depend on molecular chemistry. One systemic definition of life is that living things areself-organizing andautopoietic (self-producing). Variations of this includeStuart Kauffman's definition as anautonomous agent or amulti-agent system capable of reproducing itself, and of completing at least onethermodynamic work cycle.[29] This definition is extended by the evolution of novel functions over time.[30] Living systems are characterized by a multiscale,hierarchical organization, spanning from molecular machines to cells, organs, tissues, organisms, populations, ecosystems, up to the whole biosphere.[31]
Animal corpses, like thisAfrican buffalo, are recycled by theecosystem, providing energy and nutrients for living organisms.
Death is the termination of all vital functions or life processes in an organism or cell.[32][33]One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. Death would seem to refer to either the moment life ends, or when the state that follows life begins.[33] However, determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems.[34] Such determination, therefore, requires drawing conceptual lines between life and death. This is problematic because there is little consensus over how to define life. The nature of death has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical inquiry. Many religions maintain faith in either a kind ofafterlife orreincarnation for thesoul, orresurrection of the body at a later date.[35]
Whether or not viruses should be considered as alive is controversial.[36][37] They are most often considered as justgene codingreplicators rather than forms of life.[38] They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life"[39] because they possessgenes, evolve by natural selection,[40][41] and replicate by making multiple copies of themselves through self-assembly. However, viruses do not metabolise and they require a host cell to make new products. Virus self-assembly within host cells has implications for the study of theorigin of life, as it may support the hypothesis that life could have started as self-assemblingorganic molecules.[42][43]
An alternative view on this topic is the possibility that we have overlooked the true nature of viruses.[44] In accordance to this view, a virion is a marespore where an ontologically mature virus is created by the act of a cellinfection.[45] Created this way, "virocell"—a cellularorganism of virus—is supposed to be its true form which holds all features of living beings.[46]
Some of the earliest theories of life were materialist, holding that all that exists is matter, and that life is merely a complex form or arrangement of matter.Empedocles (430 BC) argued that everything in the universe is made up of a combination offour eternal "elements" or "roots of all": earth, water, air, and fire. All change is explained by the arrangement and rearrangement of these four elements. The various forms of life are caused by an appropriate mixture of elements.[47]Democritus (460 BC) was anatomist; he thought that the essential characteristic of life was having asoul (psyche), and that the soul, like everything else, was composed of fiery atoms. He elaborated on fire because of the apparent connection between life and heat, and because fire moves.[48]Plato, in contrast, held that the world was organised by permanentforms, reflected imperfectly in matter; forms provided direction or intelligence, explaining the regularities observed in the world.[49]
Themechanistic materialism that originated inancient Greece was revived and revised by the French philosopherRené Descartes (1596–1650), who held that animals and humans were assemblages of parts that together functioned as a machine.Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz emphasised thehirarchical organization of living machines, noting in his bookMonadology (1714) that "...the machines of nature, that is living bodies, are still machines in their smallest parts, to infinity."[50] This idea was developed further byJulien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1750) in his bookL'Homme Machine.[51] In the 19th century the advances incell theory in biological science encouraged this view. Theevolutionary theory ofCharles Darwin (1859) is a mechanistic explanation for the origin of species by means ofnatural selection.[52] At the beginning of the 20th centuryStéphane Leduc (1853–1939) promoted the idea that biological processes could be understood in terms of physics and chemistry, and that their growth resembled that of inorganic crystals immersed in solutions of sodium silicate. His ideas, set out in his bookLa biologie synthétique,[53] were widely dismissed during his lifetime, but has incurred a resurgence of interest in the work of Russell, Barge and colleagues.[54]
Hylomorphism is a theory first expressed by the Greek philosopherAristotle (322 BC). The application of hylomorphism to biology was important to Aristotle, andbiology is extensively covered in his extant writings. In this view, everything in the material universe has both matter and form, and the form of a living thing is itssoul (Greekpsyche, Latinanima). There are three kinds of souls: thevegetative soul of plants, which causes them to grow and decay and nourish themselves, but does not cause motion and sensation; theanimal soul, which causes animals to move and feel; and therational soul, which is the source of consciousness and reasoning, which (Aristotle believed) is found only in man.[55] Each higher soul has all of the attributes of the lower ones. Aristotle believed that while matter can exist without form, form cannot exist without matter, and that therefore the soul cannot exist without the body.[56]
This account is consistent withteleological explanations of life, which account for phenomena in terms of purpose or goal-directedness. Thus, the whiteness of the polar bear's coat is explained by its purpose of camouflage. The direction of causality (from the future to the past) is in contradiction with the scientific evidence for natural selection, which explains the consequence in terms of a prior cause. Biological features are explained not by looking at future optimal results, but by looking at the pastevolutionary history of a species, which led to the natural selection of the features in question.[57]
Spontaneous generation was the belief that living organisms can form without descent from similar organisms. Typically, the idea was that certain forms such as fleas could arise from inanimate matter such as dust or the supposed seasonal generation of mice and insects from mud or garbage.[58]
The theory of spontaneous generation was proposed byAristotle,[59] who compiled and expanded the work of prior natural philosophers and the various ancient explanations of the appearance of organisms; it was considered the best explanation for two millennia. It was decisively dispelled by the experiments ofLouis Pasteur in 1859, who expanded upon the investigations of predecessors such asFrancesco Redi.[60][61] Disproof of the traditional ideas of spontaneous generation is no longer controversial among biologists.[62][63][64]
Vitalism is the belief that there is a non-material life-principle. This originated withGeorg Ernst Stahl (17th century), and remained popular until the middle of the 19th century. It appealed to philosophers such asHenri Bergson,Friedrich Nietzsche, andWilhelm Dilthey,[65] anatomists likeXavier Bichat, and chemists likeJustus von Liebig.[66] Vitalism included the idea that there was a fundamental difference between organic and inorganic material, and the belief thatorganic material can only be derived from living things. This was disproved in 1828, whenFriedrich Wöhler preparedurea from inorganic materials.[67] ThisWöhler synthesis is considered the starting point of modernorganic chemistry. It is of historical significance because for the first time anorganic compound was produced ininorganic reactions.[66]
During the 1850sHermann von Helmholtz, anticipated byJulius Robert von Mayer, demonstrated that no energy is lost in muscle movement, suggesting that there were no "vital forces" necessary to move a muscle.[68] These results led to the abandonment of scientific interest in vitalistic theories, especially afterEduard Buchner's demonstration that alcoholic fermentation could occur in cell-free extracts of yeast.[69] Nonetheless, belief still exists inpseudoscientific theories such ashomoeopathy, which interprets diseases and sickness as caused by disturbances in a hypothetical vital force or life force.[70]
Evolution is the change inheritablecharacteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It results in the appearance of new species and often the disappearance of old ones.[83][84] Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such asnatural selection (includingsexual selection) andgenetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics increasing or decreasing in frequency within a population over successive generations.[85] The process of evolution has given rise tobiodiversity at every level ofbiological organisation.[86][87]
Fossils are the preserved remains ortraces of organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in layers (strata) ofsedimentary rock is known as thefossil record. A preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than the arbitrary date of 10,000 years ago.[88] Hence, fossils range in age from the youngest at the start of theHolocene Epoch to the oldest from theArchaean Eon, up to 3.4billion years old.[89][90]
Extinction is the process by which aspecies dies out.[91] The moment of extinction is the death of the last individual of that species. Because a species' potentialrange may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively after a period of apparent absence. Species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changinghabitat or against superior competition. Over 99% of all the species that have ever lived are now extinct.[92][93][94][95]Mass extinctions may have accelerated evolution by providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify.[96]
The diversity of life on Earth is a result of the dynamic interplay betweengenetic opportunity, metabolic capability,environmental challenges,[97] andsymbiosis.[98][99][100] For most of its existence, Earth's habitable environment has been dominated bymicroorganisms and subjected to their metabolism and evolution. As a consequence of these microbial activities, the physical-chemical environment on Earth has been changing on ageologic time scale, thereby affecting the path of evolution of subsequent life.[97] For example, the release of molecularoxygen bycyanobacteria as a by-product ofphotosynthesis induced global changes in the Earth's environment. Because oxygen was toxic to most life on Earth at the time, this posed novel evolutionary challenges, and ultimately resulted in the formation of Earth's major animal and plant species. This interplay between organisms and their environment is an inherent feature of living systems.[97]
Thebiosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed as the zone of life on Earth, a closed system (apart from solar and cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth), and largely self-regulating.[102] Organisms exist in every part of the biosphere, includingsoil,hot springs,inside rocks at least 19 km (12 mi) deep underground, the deepest parts of the ocean, and at least 64 km (40 mi) high in the atmosphere.[103][104][105] For example, spores ofAspergillus niger have been detected in themesosphere at an altitude of 48 to 77 km.[106] Under test conditions, life forms have been observed to survive in the vacuum of space.[107][108] Life forms thrive in the deepMariana Trench,[109] and inside rocks up to 580 m (1,900 ft; 0.36 mi) below the sea floor under 2,590 m (8,500 ft; 1.61 mi) of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States,[110][111] and 2,400 m (7,900 ft; 1.5 mi) beneath the seabed off Japan.[112] In 2014, life forms were found living 800 m (2,600 ft; 0.50 mi) below the ice of Antarctica.[113][114] Expeditions of theInternational Ocean Discovery Program foundunicellular life in 120 °C sediment 1.2 km below seafloor in theNankai Troughsubduction zone.[115] According to one researcher, "You can findmicrobes everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are."[110]
Range of tolerance
The inert components of an ecosystem are the physical and chemical factors necessary for life—energy (sunlight orchemical energy), water, heat,atmosphere,gravity,nutrients, andultravioletsolar radiation protection.[116] In most ecosystems, the conditions vary during the day and from one season to the next. To survive in these ecosystems, organisms must be able to tolerate a range of conditions defined as the "range of tolerance".[117] Outside this range are the "zones of physiological stress", where the survival and reproduction are possible but not optimal. Beyond these zones are the "zones of intolerance", where survival and reproduction of that organism is unlikely or impossible. Organisms that have a wide range of tolerance are more widely distributed than organisms with a narrow range of tolerance.[117]
To survive, some microorganisms have evolved to withstandfreezing,complete desiccation,starvation, high levels ofradiation exposure, and other physical or chemical challenges. Theseextremophile microorganisms may survive exposure to such conditions for long periods.[97][118] They excel at exploiting uncommon sources of energy. Characterization of thestructure and metabolic diversity of microbial communities in suchextreme environments is ongoing.[119]
The first classification of organisms was made by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), who grouped living things as either plants or animals, based mainly on their ability to move. He distinguished animals with blood from animals without blood, which can be compared with the concepts ofvertebrates andinvertebrates respectively, and divided the blooded animals into five groups: viviparous quadrupeds (mammals), oviparous quadrupeds (reptiles andamphibians), birds, fishes andwhales. The bloodless animals were divided into five groups:cephalopods,crustaceans, insects (which included the spiders,scorpions, andcentipedes), shelled animals (such as mostmolluscs andechinoderms), and "zoophytes" (animals that resemble plants). This theory remained dominant for more than a thousand years.[120]
Linnaean
In the late 1740s,Carl Linnaeus introduced his system ofbinomial nomenclature for the classification of species. Linnaeus attempted to improve the composition and reduce the length of the previously used many-worded names by abolishing unnecessary rhetoric, introducing new descriptive terms and precisely defining their meaning.[121]
The fungi were originally treated as plants. For a short period Linnaeus had classified them in the taxonVermes in Animalia, but later placed them back in Plantae.Herbert Copeland classified the Fungi in hisProtoctista, including them with single-celled organisms and thus partially avoiding the problem but acknowledging their special status.[122] The problem was eventually solved byWhittaker, when he gave them their ownkingdom in hisfive-kingdom system.Evolutionary history shows that the fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.[123]
As advances inmicroscopy enabled detailed study ofcells and microorganisms, new groups of life were revealed, and the fields ofcell biology andmicrobiology were created. These new organisms were originally described separately inprotozoa as animals andprotophyta/thallophyta as plants, but were united byErnst Haeckel in the kingdomProtista; later, theprokaryotes were split off in the kingdomMonera, which would eventually be divided into two separate groups, the Bacteria and theArchaea. This led to thesix-kingdom system and eventually to the currentthree-domain system, which is based on evolutionary relationships.[124] However, the classification of eukaryotes, especially of protists, is still controversial.[125]
As microbiology developed, viruses, which are non-cellular, were discovered. Whether these are considered alive has been a matter of debate; viruses lack characteristics of life such as cell membranes, metabolism and the ability to grow or respond to their environments. Viruses have been classed into "species" based on theirgenetics, but many aspects of such a classification remain controversial.[126]
The original Linnaean system has been modified many times, for example as follows:
The attempt to organise the Eukaryotes into a small number of kingdoms has been challenged. The Protozoa do not form aclade or natural grouping,[134] and nor do theChromista (Chromalveolata).[135]
Metagenomic
The ability to sequence large numbers of completegenomes has allowed biologists to take ametagenomic view of thephylogeny of the wholetree of life. This has led to the realisation that the majority of living things are bacteria, and that all have a common origin.[124][136]
All life forms require certain corechemical elements for theirbiochemical functioning. These includecarbon,hydrogen,nitrogen,oxygen,phosphorus, andsulfur—the elementalmacronutrients for all organisms.[137] Together these make upnucleic acids, proteins andlipids, the bulk of living matter. Five of these six elements comprise the chemical components of DNA, the exception being sulfur. The latter is a component of the amino acidscysteine andmethionine. The most abundant of these elements in organisms is carbon, which has the desirable attribute of forming multiple, stablecovalent bonds. This allows carbon-based (organic) molecules to form the immense variety of chemical arrangements described inorganic chemistry.[138]Alternativehypothetical types of biochemistry have been proposed that eliminate one or more of these elements, swap out an element for one not on the list, or change requiredchiralities or other chemical properties.[139][140]
The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain bycovalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternatingsugar-phosphate backbone. According tobase pairing rules (A with T, and C with G),hydrogen bonds bind the nitrogenous bases of the two separate polynucleotide strands to make double-stranded DNA. This has the key property that each strand contains all the information needed to recreate the other strand, enabling the information to be preserved during reproduction and cell division.[142] Within cells, DNA is organised into long structures calledchromosomes. Duringcell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process ofDNA replication, providing each cell its own complete set of chromosomes. Eukaryotes store most of their DNA inside thecell nucleus.[143]
Cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing, and all cells arise from pre-existing cells bydivision.[144][145]Cell theory was formulated byHenri Dutrochet,Theodor Schwann,Rudolf Virchow and others during the early nineteenth century, and subsequently became widely accepted.[146] The activity of an organism depends on the total activity of its cells, withenergy flow occurring within and between them. Cells contain hereditary information that is carried forward as agenetic code during cell division.[147]
There are two primary types of cells, reflecting their evolutionary origins.Prokaryote cells lack anucleus and other membrane-boundorganelles, although they have circular DNA andribosomes. Bacteria andArchaea are twodomains of prokaryotes. The other primary type is theeukaryote cell, which has a distinct nucleus bound by anuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles, includingmitochondria,chloroplasts,lysosomes, rough and smoothendoplasmic reticulum, andvacuoles. In addition, their DNA is organised intochromosomes. All species of large complex organisms are eukaryotes, including animals, plants and fungi, though with a wide diversity ofprotistmicroorganisms.[148] The conventional model is that eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, with the main organelles of the eukaryotes forming throughendosymbiosis between bacteria and the progenitor eukaryotic cell.[149]
The molecular mechanisms ofcell biology are based onproteins. Most of these are synthesised by the ribosomes through anenzyme-catalyzed process calledprotein biosynthesis. A sequence of amino acids is assembled and joined based upongene expression of the cell's nucleic acid.[150] In eukaryotic cells, these proteins may then be transported and processed through theGolgi apparatus in preparation for dispatch to their destination.[151]
Cells reproduce through a process ofcell division in which the parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. For prokaryotes, cell division occurs through a process offission in which the DNA is replicated, then the two copies are attached to parts of the cell membrane. Ineukaryotes, a more complex process ofmitosis is followed. However, the result is the same; the resulting cell copies are identical to each other and to the original cell (except formutations), and both are capable of further division following aninterphase period.[152] Most species of multicellularplants,animals andfungi as well as manyprotists are capable ofsexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction, involving ameiotic process, is considered to have arisen very early in the evolution ofeukaryotes.[153][154]
Multicellular structure
Multicellular organisms may have first evolved through the formation ofcolonies of identical cells. These cells can form group organisms throughcell adhesion. The individual members of a colony are capable of surviving on their own, whereas the members of a true multi-cellular organism have developed specialisations, making them dependent on the remainder of the organism for survival. Such organisms are formedclonally or from a singlegerm cell that is capable of forming the various specialised cells that form the adult organism. This specialisation allows multicellular organisms to exploit resources more efficiently than single cells.[155] About 800 million years ago, a minor genetic change in a single molecule, theenzymeGK-PID, may have allowed organisms to go from a single cell organism to one of many cells.[156]
Cells have evolved methods to perceive and respond to their microenvironment, thereby enhancing their adaptability.Cell signaling coordinates cellular activities, and hence governs the basic functions of multicellular organisms. Signaling between cells can occur through direct cell contact usingjuxtacrine signalling, or indirectly through the exchange of agents as in theendocrine system. In more complex organisms, coordination of activities can occur through a dedicatednervous system.[157]
Investigation of the tenacity and versatility of life on Earth,[118] as well as an understanding of the molecular systems that some organisms utilise to survive such extremes, is important for the search for extraterrestrial life.[97] For example,lichen could survive for a month in asimulated Martian environment.[164][165]
Beyond the Solar System, the region around anothermain-sequence star that could support Earth-like life on an Earth-like planet is known as thehabitable zone. The inner and outer radii of this zone vary with the luminosity of the star, as does the time interval during which the zone survives. Stars more massive than the Sun have a larger habitable zone, but remain on the Sun-like "main sequence" ofstellar evolution for a shorter time interval. Smallred dwarfs have the opposite problem, with a smaller habitable zone that is subject to higher levels of magnetic activity and the effects oftidal locking from close orbits. Hence, stars in the intermediate mass range such as the Sun may have a greater likelihood for Earth-like life to develop.[166]
The location of the star within a galaxy may also affect the likelihood of life forming. Stars in regions with a greater abundance of heavier elements that can form planets, in combination with a low rate of potentiallyhabitat-damagingsupernova events, are predicted to have a higher probability of hosting planets with complex life.[167] The variables of theDrake equation are used to discuss the conditions in planetary systems where civilisation is most likely to exist, within wide bounds of uncertainty.[168] A "Confidence of Life Detection" scale (CoLD) for reporting evidence of life beyond Earth has been proposed.[169][170]
Artificial life is thesimulation of any aspect of life, as through computers,robotics, orbiochemistry.[171]Synthetic biology is a new area ofbiotechnology that combines science andbiological engineering. The common goal is the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found in nature. Synthetic biology includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design and build engineered biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health and the environment.[172]
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.jpg)
![Phylogenetic tree based on rRNA genes data (Woese et al., 1990)[124] showing the 3 life domains, with the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) at its root](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPhylogenetic_tree_of_life_LUCA.svg)
![A 2016 metagenomic representation of the tree of life, unrooted, using ribosomal protein sequences. Bacteria are at top (left and right); Archaea at bottom; Eukaryotes in green at bottom right.[136]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aA_Novel_Representation_Of_The_Tree_Of_Life.svg)
