Life in a test tube

John W. Burgeson (johnburgeson@juno.com)
Thu, 6 May 1999 10:31:53 -0600

Someone wrote recently that "life" could be defined as any entity
having the attributes of reproduction, metabolism, and response
to external stimuli."

On the basis of those three attributes, he went on to say, the
biologist Fox had, from chemicals clearly not having those
attributes, created life.

It seems to me that this ought to be a pretty clear argument for
the creation of "life in a test tube." Particularly if the chemicals Fox
used could be created from non-organic chemicals.

Just wondering. What possible rebuttal could be made to this claim?

Burgy

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