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Cited by 393Origins and Evolution of LifePhilosophy of Biology and Scientific ExplanationEvolution and Genetic Dynamics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 59 of the 64 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

A Universal Definition of Life: Autonomy and Open-Ended Evolution

Ruiz-Mirazo, Kepa, Peretó, Juli, Moreno, Alvaro·2004·Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
DOI 10.1023/b:orig.0000016440.53346.dc
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Abstract

Life is a complex phenomenon that not only requires individual self-producing and self-sustaining 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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Show all 64 references

Research works printed but not linked: 15

  1. Benner, S. A.: 1999, How Small can a Microorganism be? in Size Limits of Very Small Microorganisms (Proceedings of a Workshop), National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 126–135.
  2. Haynes, R. H.: 1990, ‘Ecce Ecopoiesis: Playing God on Mars’, in D. MacNiven (ed.), Moral Expertise: Studies in Practical and Professional Ethics, Routledge, London, pp. 161–183.
  3. Joyce, G. F.: 1994, ‘Foreword’, in D. W. Deamer and G. R. Fleischaker (eds), Origins of Life: The Central Concepts, Jones and Bartlett, Boston, pp. xi–xii.
  4. Lovelock, J. E.: 1988, The Ages of Gaia, Norton, New York.
  5. Margulis, L.: 1990, ‘Big Trouble in Biology: Physiological Autopoiesis Versus Mechanistic Neo-Darwinism’, in J. Brockman (ed.), Doing Science: The Reality Club 2, Prentice Hall, NY, pp. 211–235.
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  8. Moreno, A., Umerez, J. and Fernandez, J.: 1994, Definition of Life and Research Program in Artificial Life, Ludus Vitalis 2, 15–33.
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  11. Pattee, H. H.: 1982, Cell Psychology: An Evolutionary Approach to the Symbol-matter Problem, Cognit. Brain Theor. 4, 325–341.
  12. Pattee, H. H.: 1997, ‘The Physics of Symbols and Evolution of Semiotic Controls’, in M. Coombs (ed.), Workshop on Control Mechanisms for Complex Systems: Issues of Measurement and Semiotic Analysis, New Mexico State University.
  13. Ruiz-Mirazo, K. and Moreno, A.: 1998, ‘Autonomy and Emergence: how Systems become Agents through the Generation of Functional Constraints, in G. L. Farre and T. Oksala (eds), Emergence, Complexity, Hierarchy, Organization (Selected and edited papers from the ECHO III Conference), Acta Polytech. Scand. Ma91, The Finnish Academy of Technology, Espoo-Helsinki, pp. 273–282.
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Metadata

Authors
Ruiz-Mirazo, K., Peretó, J., & Moreno, A.
Affiliations
Universitat de València (ES)
ORCID
Peretó, Juli
Venue
Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2004-06
Volume
34
Issue
3
Pages
323-346
ISSN
  • 0169-6149 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-0875
DOI
10.1023/b:orig.0000016440.53346.dc
OpenAlex
W2089114542
Cited by
393
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 13
FWCI
7.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología
  • Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
Keywords
concept of life, autonomy, open-ended evolution, semipermeable membranes, energy transduction, collective organization, evolutionary dynamics, complexity increase
MeSH terms
Origin of Life, Energy Metabolism, Biological Evolution, Models, Biological, Models, Theoretical, Reproduction, Life

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