Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Synthetic Condensates and Cell-Like Architectures from Amphiphilic DNA Nanostructures
Published on: May 31, 2024
Artificial cybernetic living individuals based on supramolecular-level organization as dispersed individuals
1Faculty of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, ul Gronostajowa, Kraków, Poland. benio@mol.uj.edu.pl
Abstract:
One of the most characteristic features of spontaneously originating biological systems is that their most fundamental structure and especially functioning is based on molecular-level organization. This property is particularly important when natural living individuals composed of organic compounds of carbon are compared with (hypothetical) artificial living individuals based on metals, plastic, glass, silicon, and so on, whose most basic structural and functional units appear at the supramolecular level. The cybernetic definition of a living individual I proposed previously is used in the present work. I argue that artificial, supramolecular living individuals existing self-dependently in the environment of some distant planet must have the form of dispersed individuals composed of several separate subindividuals that are integrated functionally, but not structurally. These subindividuals would be analogous to such modules of human technical civilization as machines, robots, steelworks, chemical plants, electronic factories, power stations, and mines. Such dispersed individuals would resemble colonies of social insects and moles, which are also composed of separate subindividuals (particular insects and moles) carrying out different specialized functions.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Synthetic Biology
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...
Structural Organization of the Human Body: An Overview
To study the chemical level of organization, scientists consider the simplest building blocks of matter: subatomic particles, atoms, and molecules. All matter in the universe is composed of one or more unique pure substances called elements, familiar examples of...
Levels of Organization

