Fundamental Taboos of Biology

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E. D. Sverdlov

Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, pl. Kurchatova 2, 123182 Moscow, Russia; fax: (495) 330-6538; E-mail: edsver@freemail.ru

Received April 17, 2009

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This paper formulates some taboos relating to living systems and cognition of these systems: in nature, there exist no two identical living complex multicellular organisms; there is no way to create an exact copy of a multicellular organism; there is no way to obtain two identical clones of a unicellular organism if they contain a sufficiently large number of cells; based on comparing present-day organisms, it is impossible to restore the structure of the first living cell and the processes that have led to its emergence; it is impossible to create a living cell from its separate simple constituents; the mechanisms determining cell vitality are essentially incognizable.

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KEY WORDS: biology, general laws, taboos, prohibitions

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297909090016

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