All life that WE know.
No, just all life on Earth. But it makes
sense that all other life would start with cells, or a cell-like figure. A cell is the most basic form of life that can still be called a lifeform, and that applies to everything, not just Earth.
Look at a prokaryotic bacteria cell. In their simplest form, they are nothing more than some strands of DNA (a handful of molecules strung together) and protiens(a handful of mlecules strung together) contained in what is essentially a bubble. You can't
get more simple than that and still have a living thing. Anything less is just plain matter. And if you're thinking "well why not?" then you need to read more into what actually constitutes a living being.
Energy based life wouldn't fall under what we define as "life", and sounds pretty ridiculous if you actually understand what constitutes a lifeform. For one thing, by definition, a lifeform has to be made up of matter, not energy waves.
Of course you could make the argument that at the quantum level all matters breaks down into waves, but that's a totally different kind of "wave" and isn't really a sound argument.
Ectoplasm is also not a form of life.