Vol. 9 No. 1 (2026): Special Issue, "What is Life?"

View Vol. 9 No. 1 (2026): Special Issue, "What is Life?"

Produced with the Levin Lab at Tufts University, this special issue addresses the question, What is life? Sixty-eight researchers collaborated with Levin Lab to discover hidden conceptual archetypes among various definitions of life. Definitions were documented in an email symposium which was analyzed by machine learning. Biological Theory (Springer) published the analysis as 'What lives? A Meta-Analysis of Diverse Opinions on the Definition of Life'. Here you can find the unabridged email symposium prefaced by a theoretical introduction.

Published: 2026-07-08

Full Issue

Perspectives and Hypotheses

  • A Valid Theory of Life: Introduction to the Special Issue

    Ali Hossaini
    5-9

  • Defining Life: A Conversation

    Karina Kofman, Christoph Adami, František Baluška, Joshua Bongard, Douglas Brash, Paco Calvo, Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic, Pranab Das, Chris Fields, Tom Froese, Pier Luigi Gentili, Georgi Yordanov Georgiev, Scott F. Gilbert, Timothy N. W. Jackson, Stuart Kauffman, Nick Lane, Perry Marshall, Dan McShea, William Miller, Stuart Newman, Alistair Nunn, Theodore P. Pavlic, Martin Picard, William Ratcliff, Arthur Reber, James Shapiro, Aaron Sloman, Ricard Solé, Carlos Sonnenschein, Susan Stepney, Richard Watson, Olaf Witkowski, Michael Levin
    11-47