期刊
ORIGINS OF LIFE AND EVOLUTION OF BIOSPHERES
卷 34, 期 3, 页码 323-346出版社
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1023/B:ORIG.0000016440.53346.dc
关键词
artificial life; astrobiology; autonomous agents; definition of life; generalization of biology; genotype-phenotype decoupling; open-ended evolution; origin of life; origins of (genetic) information
类别
Life is a complex phenomenon that not only requires individual self-producing and selfsustaining systems but also a historical-collective organization of those individual systems, which brings about characteristic evolutionary dynamics. On these lines, we propose to define universally living beings as autonomous systems with open-ended evolution capacities, and we claim that all such systems must have a semi-permeable active boundary ( membrane), an energy transduction apparatus (set of energy currencies) and, at least, two types of functionally interdependent macromolecular components ( catalysts and records). The latter is required to articulate a 'phenotype-genotype' decoupling that leads to a scenario where the global network of autonomous systems allows for an open-ended increase in the complexity of the individual agents. Thus, the basic-individual organization of biological systems depends critically on being instructed by patterns ( informational records) whose generation and reliable transmission cannot be explained but take into account the complete historical network of relationships among those systems. We conclude that a proper definition of life should consider both levels, individual and collective: living systems cannot be fully constituted without being part of the evolutionary process of a whole ecosystem. Finally, we also discuss a few practical implications of the definition for different programs of research.
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