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stellarfury t1_jbqop8n wrote

Reply to comment by Nymaz in I just learned that the known shortest DNA in an “organism” is about 1700 base pairs in a certain virus. Is there a minimum amount of “code” required for an organism (or virus) to function in any capacity? by mcbergstedt

I honestly think that most microbial stuff (prions, viruses, even bacteria to some extent) is closer to machinery than anything a layman would consider "life."

Sure, it's autonomous self-replicating machinery that actively seeks and processes its own fuel, but... well, you could design a macroscale machine that does this.

You wouldn't want to, because you'd be Ted Faro, but it's possible.

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Elladan71 t1_jbrpzwp wrote

Heck, who's to say that having achieved sapience, those self-replicating machines aren't alive? Racists, that's who!

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