Macroscopic and Microscopic Views of Life

I read with great interest the letter of Shi V. Liu about “Rectify the Distorted Microscopic View on Life: an Open Letter to Microbiologists” (Microbe, January 2006, p. 1) and the response by Dennis Hill about “Defining Life Principles” (Microbe, April 2006, p. 159). Liu described that, with the establishment of microbiology, we have a dichotomous view on life in regard to the observable differences in reproduction patterns of macroorganisms and microorganisms, and that perhaps the microscopic view on life is distorted and requires the formation of a new biology. Hill pointed out that prokaryotes and eukaryotes reproduce differently, and that a particular view of life needs only to be properly refined and should not be too constrictive, but rather be handled with an open mind, thus eliminating the need for a new biology.