Return to Living Systems

QUOTE 48 from:
Heylighen, F. (1988) 'Building a Science of Complexity'. Available from: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/papers/BuildingComplexity.html; accessed on 7/05/05

'This brings us to the organization of biological systems. A living system can in general be defined by its autopoietic organization : it consists of a network of processes which produces itself (cfr. Maturana and Varela, 1980; Varela, 1979). The typical example of this circular organization is the cycle through which the DNA in a living cell produces enzymes which themselves steer the production of new DNA, which again produces enzymes, ... This is obviously an example of a cyclical closure.'

Return to Living Systems