Some things are difficult to define. Are the paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau tasteful art or pornography? It’s hard to tell.
It’s the same with life. It’s impossible to draw a clear line between what is alive and what is dead. Are viruses alive? Not fully, but they’re also not completely dead matter. Likewise for the recently revealed synthetic SpudCell. Here is Derek Lowe illuminating the matter:
“Real” cells can of course make their own ribosomes and do many other processes that SpudCells cannot, but I think we’re going to be moving along a sliding scale there as the system is elaborated. And as that work goes on, there is not going to be a flash of light and a sounding of trumpets to tell you that your SpudCells are Officially Alive.
Nehaveigur 
