DLESE description of What is Life?

This 1 hour and 37 minute radio broadcast contains discussion with scientists about what they look for when they search for life, how they define life, and what complex properties make up living organisms. The show considers if it is possible that we could overlook life if it was in an unfamiliar form, for instance a non-carbon based form. Other topics include the evidence for past life on Mars and Europa and how probable life is in the universe. There is discussion about prions, how proteins change shape and cause disease, and experiments in yeast which have shed light on how genetic material is transferred; the possibility of life that is not molecular sized but on the scale of nebular clouds; the possibility of silicon-based or computer life; and how the Archaea branch of life can exist in extreme environments.