Abstract
The question "what is life?" is one that most scientists have pondered at some stage, and one that is often broken into two parts. The first concerns the origin of life, such as where biological molecules came from and how structures such as DNA and proteins first accumulated. The second part concerns how living organisms function. For example, how does a cell work? How is our DNA read, replicated and repaired? And how do diseases spread and proliferate in a world where international travel is commonplace?