I'd put it even stronger, especially in this context where we contemplate radically simpler origins of life, that mightn't be "alive" by standard definitions (l

I'd put it even stronger, especially in this context where we contemplate radically simpler origins of life, that mightn't be "alive" by standard definitions (like viruses), and yet are steps along the way to sufficient complexity to be "alive": that life (in this context) is reproduction.