That's a good question. I can imagine that there was a time before there was life on Earth, and then clearly there was a time X-hundred thousand years or a million years later when there were things that we would all recognize as biological.
What Causes High White Blood Cell Counts? White blood cell counts are elevated when the body is fighting an illness or disease, so a high count is indicative of an infection. Often, your doctor will order another round of tests after he or she determines you have a high white blood cell count.
Bacterial and viral infections are the most common causes of a high white blood cell count. Fungal or parasitic infections can also increase the number of white blood cells in the blood. The increase in WBCs due to infection is caused by a normal immune system response that stimulates the bone marrow to release stored white blood cells.