'What is life? Biologists may say that life is a thing that’s capable of reproducing and autonomous behaviour. The thermodynamic definition is a system that consumes free energy to maintain a stable non-equilibrium state. What is life can also be answered differently by different religions. You could argue that life is something sacred, divine, even created. I look at all these perspectives, and my answer is, I don’t know.

'Can we create life? Some people insist so. My advisor is part of a Dutch group called Basyc whose goal is to create an artificial cell. The Sloan Foundation funds the Matter-to-Life program, who ...