Friday, September 03, 2004
Seven
There's a message board I'm taking part in in which a discussion has appeared "what differentiates a living thing from a non living one?" Quick as a flash I remember my O level training: the seven characteristics of living things. I post something resembling the following:
Almost as quickly, somebody else posts
Mules can't reproduce, it's true - damn. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd thought that one up for myself when I was in Mr Fisher's class aged 14 (or was it Mrs Mitchell aged 13?). Anyway, if anybody reads this who's done any biology to, say, degree level (perhaps witha smidgeon of statistics thrown in) and knows the answer, please hit "reply".
From my O level biology: the seven characteristics of living things:
Feeding
Movement
Respiration
Excretion
Growth
Sensitivity
Reproduction
Clearly by the above definition, prions and viruses are not alive. The ability to cause copies of oneself to be made does not necessarily constitute life.
Almost as quickly, somebody else posts
Neither do mules
Mules can't reproduce, it's true - damn. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd thought that one up for myself when I was in Mr Fisher's class aged 14 (or was it Mrs Mitchell aged 13?). Anyway, if anybody reads this who's done any biology to, say, degree level (perhaps witha smidgeon of statistics thrown in) and knows the answer, please hit "reply".
# posted by JeremyP : 10:27 pm
