Abstract
As one approaches final retirement from the affairs of this world, regret for failing to have kept alive potentially fruitful ideas can gnaw at the sense of a life well lived. There is a challenge today with consequences that may well reach back to the very beginning of humanity's struggle toward civilization. There would be soul-searching regrets if this challenge is allowed to die. At issue are competing views of what it is that tells us a newborn will breathe, a grain of wheat will germinate, a towering redwood will stay green, an anthrax spore is infectious, a stem cell will show differentiation. Reaching back to Genesis, a fundamental entity becomes evident in the birth and death of all forms of life with human life being endowed with unique properties.