So, what makes something alive?

There are certain processes that distinguish living organisms from non-living things. These processes are referred to as basic life processes.

Basic Life Processes

Living organisms carry out metabolism, the sum of all chemical reactions that take place in the body.

There are two broad classes of metabolism: anabolism and catabolism.

Responsiveness refers to the ability of the body to detect and respond to change.

Example: muscle cells respond by contracting, generating force to move different body parts.

Movement is the motion of the whole body, organs, single cells, or even structures inside cells.

Example: secretory vesicles within the cell move and fuse to the cell membrane to release their content outside the cell.

The increase in body size which results from

1) an increase in the size of existing cells, 2) an increase in the number of cells,

or both.

The development of a cell from an unspecialized to a specialized state.

Example: the differentiation of a proerythroblast into an erythrocyte (red blood cell).

Reproduction is the formation of new cells for tissue growth, repair, or replacement, or the production of a new individual.

Example: secretory vesicles within the cell move and fuse to the cell membrane to release their content outside the cell.