Life and organism is the existential-form of the living substance ["substance" in the chemical sense] (matter combinate), in which one should not speak of protein, because precisely that it isn't.
Sensitivity of organisms, organismic death, etc. might invite one to the thought -- and probably it has happened often enough -- that Life is in one way or another connected with matter rather loosely. In fact this connection is particularly intensive. Confusing is our ignorance of the special state, and our inability to discriminate. Otherwise we would not at all speak of protein-life or living protein. Even less relevant it would be to speak of the connection of two essences, namely matter, that we very generally know of, and Life, as a principle that in practice, it is true, is only found to exist in connection with determined matter, but "in itself" nevertheless -- without one being able to say how -- is [supposed to be ] independent.
In inheritance and reproduction, which is in itself a genuine transfer of living substance, undoubtedly determined living material is passed on, and not just an order-of-life coinciding with the ability to transform "ordinary matter" into living matter.
Perhaps it is useful to avoid the "to-be-alive property" and instead to speak of "properness". The latter term may express a specific "construction" or formation [i.e. express a being instead of a quality], while when using the first expression one dangerously comes close to think of "colored", "magnetic", etc. A determined matter aggregate [here "aggregate" used in its broad and general sense, not the one used by us while presenting HOENEN's exposition of aggregates and totalities.] is characterized by the properness : alive (compare : regular steel may be m a d e magnetic).
In our view there is no place for a "new" idea of live, an idea connecting with the religious doctrinal formulation of the spirit-soul. Neither it is the case that from a determined high-molecular combination onwards, that what we call Life will more or less automatically appear. Life as a principle essentially has nothing to do with high-molecularity, but it does belong the existential conditions that Life is only (temporarily) stable if the molecular combinational framework provides for a secure embedding and foundation as a result of a rather large size (and thus "high-molecular"). Further increase [of molecular size] is connected with a multiplication of the framework [for instance, polymerization], so that high-molecularity, and certainly in an unsurpassed way, becomes to be the external character of Life.