What would it be like to have no genes?

This morning we made a large paper chain model of a chromosome by stringing genes together, I was asked "what would it be like to have no genes?". This is an excellent question that pushes at the difference between Biology and the physical sciences. I suppose the answer is that you'd be a rock, or a lump of metal or water. No genes means no life because no reproduction is possible.
Genes are the smallest unit of inheritance. This means that they are the smallest instructions that we get from our parents that tell our cells how to work. Chromosome are long strings made from different genes joined together. They are found in the nucleus of all cells except for red blood cells, which have no nucleus. They are passed on to the next generation by sex cells (gametes).