[1] One stated goal of this universal definition is to aid in understanding and identifying artificial and extraterrestrial life.
[2] The seven pillars are Program, Improvisation, Compartmentalization, Energy, Regeneration, Adaptability, and Seclusion.
"Improvisation" refers to the living system's ability to change its program in response to the larger environment in which it exists.
For example, an animal seeing a predator will respond to the danger with hormonal changes and escape behavior.
Y. N. Zhuravlev and V. A. Avetisov have analyzed Koshland's seven pillars from the context of primordial life and, though calling the concept "elegant," point out that the pillars of compartmentalization, program, and seclusion don't apply well to the non-differentiated earliest life.