Something is considered living if it exhibits a set of key characteristics or functions that define life. These include:
- Cellular organization: Living things are made up of one or more cells, which are the basic units of life.
- Order: Living organisms have complex but organized structures.
- Energy processing: They obtain and use energy to carry out life processes, such as metabolism.
- Growth and development: Living things grow and develop following specific instructions coded in their DNA.
- Reproduction: They have the ability to reproduce, passing genetic information to offspring.
- Response to stimuli: Living organisms can respond to changes in their environment.
- Homeostasis: They maintain a stable internal environment despite external changes.
- Adaptation and evolution: Populations of living organisms evolve over time through changes in their genetic makeup.
Additionally, living things carry out chemical processes like respiration and excretion, require nutrients or energy sources, and have genetic material (DNA or RNA) that controls their activities and heredity
. In summary, life is characterized by a combination of cellular structure, metabolism, growth, reproduction, response to environment, homeostasis, and the capacity to evolve. These criteria distinguish living organisms from non- living entities
