TL;DR: living systems may be defined as open systems maintained in steady-states, far-from-equilibrium, due to matter-energy flows in which informed (geneticall

TL;DR: living systems may be defined as open systems maintained in steady-states, far-from-equilibrium, due to matter-energy flows in which informed (genetically) autocatalytic cycles extract energy, build complex internal structures, allowing growth even as they create greater entropy in their environments, and capable, over multigenerational time, of evolution.