Why cells are alive and atoms are not?

Question

Why cells are alive and atoms are not?

Answer 1

It takes a certain amount of organization and complexity in a system in order for life to emerge and express itself.  Atoms and molecules simply do not have that kind of structure.

Now, when you start looking at how atoms and molecules behave at the quantum level, then one has to restrain their judgment as to what is alive and what isn't.

What we experience as being alive in our large 4 dimensional world is based upon Newton's laws of classical physics. What we experience in our 4D realm is not the true reality of the universe. It is our perceived reality.  The fabric of the universe is far more complex and intricate than our senses or our technology can detect.  The quantum world is not restricted by the laws of our classical one; thus, very strange things can happen in the quantum world of atoms and molecules.

See: Big Bang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang

NATURE

A quantum recipe for life

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v43...

  

Answer 2

Cells grow and differentiate.  Cells metabolize.  Cells reproduce.  Cells respond to stimuli.  Atoms do none of these things and they are all requirements for life.