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The biggest issue is that life has to perform some sort of chemical process. Any lacking any clear delineation of an inside the life in question and the outside
by notaustinpowers 3y ago
The biggest issue is that life has to perform some sort of chemical process. Any lacking any clear delineation of an inside the life in question and the outside, would make continuous chemical processes impossible.
A stray breeze blowing away chemicals would effectively kill life. A "cell" having a barrier would allow that chemical process to happen.
Life may not require cells in the way cells on Earth evolved, but they'll require cells of some sort.
- saltcured 3y agoI'm trying to imagine some wacky living polymer or protein that wiggles around and grabs whatever molecules it needs to force localized reactions without a protected cell environment. But then I start to wonder if evolutionary pressure would encourage ones that form colonies and eventually closed topologies and cells. And then others might specialize to hijack those colonies...
- wolverine876 3y agoMaybe the planet, or locality on the planet, has resources that permit continuous chemical processes to happen without cell (maybe no breeze). Maybe it doesn't need to be continuous.