The Living Code

The single most important boundary in the hierarchy is the CELL. Everything below it (atoms, molecules, even organelles) is chemistry, not alive on its own. The cell is the smallest unit that is alive, where metabolism, reproduction, and response to the environment all emerge together. This is why a virus (molecules, not a cell) sits in a gray zone, and why the cell is the pivot of the whole hierarchy. Below the cell: chemistry. At and above the cell: life.…