Software: Such Is Life

"What is life?" That's a question Erwin Schrödinger tried to answer in an influential lecture at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1943. Last week the same question was addressed to pioneering synthetic geneticist Craig Venter (pictured) on the same stage, with the benefit of six decades of progress in genetics since Watson and Crick unveiled the structure of DNA in 1951. Watson was present at the lecture, according to Claire O'Connell, who reported on the event for New Scientist.

So, what is life f...