Martin Hanczyc: The line between life and not-life

Using non living systems in the laboratory to simulate the living behavior - reproduce and evolve

chemical experiments in the laboratory mixing together non living ingredients to make new structures so that these new structures might have some characteristics of living systems - trying to create artificial life

Charcteristics of living systems
- life has a body, that distinguishes itself from the environment
- life has metabolism, changing sources into (building blocks) energy, to maintaing and build itself
- life has inheritable information
- can move and replicate using this inheritable information
- model system of protocel (10 different molecules i.s.o. 1.000.000 like in real life)

with non living parts to create new ones that have specifics of living systems

Stephane LEDUC 1911 http://grayanat.posterous.com/synthetic-biology-from-the-mechanism-of-life
The synthesis of life, should it ever occur will not be the sensational
discover which we usual associate with the idea. If we accept the theory
of evolution, then the first down of the synthesis of life must consisted
in the production of forms intermediate between the inorganic and the
organic world – forms which possess only some of the rudimentary
attributes of life, to which other attributes will be slowly added in the
course of development by the evolutionary action of the environment.

Emergence of life-like behavior from simple chemicals .. oil drops\

Doins so to find potantial path between non-living and living systems.
Broaden view of what life is

What is life - weird life - Steve Benner:
- non equilibrium (energy to use to reproduce)
- life needs to be in liquid form
- make and break chemical bonds