The divide between living and not has long seemed unbridgeable, enshrined in disciplinary distinctions between the physical and life sciences. These boundaries are gone – it is now clear that life is a set of remarkable physical processes, not a separate domain of science subject to unique rules. This realization changes the way we teach physics to students interested in studying life. In this talk, Professor McKay will give examples of how we help students to recognize the essential role physics plays in understanding life and its diversity.