What constitutes "life" for the living? Are we all mortal or immortal?

A Facebook Conversation

2:55pm Antony
seeing as no cell can arise spontaneously (that Science, at least, has been able to replicate) then is every cell immortal? I know they all die eventually, but are we not technically a living continuation of the first successful replicating cell?

2:55pm Jaskaran
no, only henrietta lacks cells are immortal

2:55pm Antony
henrietta what

2:55pm Jaskaran
most human cells stop replicating rapidly after a certain amount of time (usually after pberty) so neurons and and braincells very rarely replicate

the problem is cells have problems removing wastes

so as we get older our cells accumulate with wastes to the point where it exceeds cell regeneration

thats why we age

2:56pm Antony
but how about our reproductive cells, they continue on to produce living beings as we are the outcomes of their success, are we not?

haploid, or not, they were successful

2:57pm Jaskaran
reproductive cells age too, which is why as people get older there is a greater chance of siring a child with downsyndrome or other congenital conditions

2:57pm Antony
what im trying to pose is a philosophical question

im not talking about the mortality of the individual cell and its functions

im talking about the continuity of living organic material

as the passing on of DNA, mtDNA, and etc.

or in plants, such as the transfusion of living cytoplasm between cells that ends up in the reproductive cells and then eventually in the new plant... a continuation of living organic matter

is that not some form of immortality?

3:00pm Jaskaran
i suppose, but most cells have a self-life

henrietta lacks cells were cells removed from a womans cervical tumor, these cells are special because they can grow forever as long as they are supplied nutrients. They are used for alot of research, except they are refered to as HeLa cells

3:03pm Antony
is it really true that answers raise more questions?

1) are haploid cells considered "alive"
2) are our individual cells considered "alive" in their singularity or only contributing the "whole" of the organism?
3) are cancerous cells considered "alive"
4) if so, what constitutes "life" for the living? for cannot a cancer continue living while the host has already died?

3:07pm Jaskaran
BALLS