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Early research by John von Neumann established that one common form of a replicator has several parts:
Exceptions to this pattern are possible. For example, scientists have successfully constructed RNA that copies itself in an "environment" that is a solution of RNA monomers and transcriptase. In this case, the body is the genome, and the specialized copy mechanisms are external.
However, the simplest possible case is that only a genome exists. Without some specification of the self-reproducing steps, a system is probably better characterized as something like a crystal.
Recent research has begun to categorize replicators, often based on the amount of support they require.
The design space for machine replicators is very broad. A comprehensive study to date has identified 137 design dimensions grouped into a dozen separate categories, including: (1) Replication Control, (2) Replication Information, (3) Replication Substrate, (4) Replicator Structure, (5) Passive Parts, (6) Active Subunits, (7) Replicator Energetics, (8) Replicator Kinematics, (9) Replication Process, (10) Replicator Performance, (11) Product Structure, and (12) Evolvability.
In computer science a self-reproducing computer program is a computer program, that, when executed, outputs its own code. This is also called a quine. Here is an example program in the Python programming language:
a='a=%s;print a%%`a`';print a%`a`
A more trivial approach is to write a program that will make a copy of any stream of data that it is directed to, and then direct it at itself. In this case the program is treated as both executable code, and as data to be manipulated.
This approach is common in most self-replicating systems, including biological life, and is simpler in that it does not require the program to contain a complete description of itself.
It is a long-term goal of some engineering sciences to achieve self-replication in a material device. The usual reason is to achieve a low cost per item while retaining the utility of a manufactured good. Many authorities say that in the limit, the cost of self-replicating items should approach the cost-per-weight of wood or other biological substances, because self-replication avoids the costs of labor, capital and distribution in conventional manufactured goods.
A fully novel artificial replicator is a reasonable near-term goal. A NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of America's space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it conducts (or oversees) re study recently placed the complexity of a clanking replicatorA clanking replicator is an artificial self-replicating system that relies on conventional large-scale technology and automation. The term evolved to distinguish such systems from the microscopic " assemblers" that nanotechnology may make possible. They a at approximately that of a IntelThe following article is about the multinational corporation; intel is also an abbreviation for intelligence, used in reference to military intelligence and espionage. Intel Corporation is a US-based multinational corporation that is best known for design's PentiumThe Pentium is a fifth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor by Intel which first shipped on March 22, 1993. It is the successor to the 486 line. The Pentium was originally to be named 80586 or i586, but the name was changed to Pentium because number 4 CPU. That is, the technology is achievable with a relatively small engineering group in a reasonable commercial time-scale at a reasonable cost.
Given the currently keen interest in biotechnology and the high levels of funding in that field, attempts to exploit the replicative ability of existing cells are timely, and may easily lead to significant insights and advances.