title: The enduring value of Gánti's chemoton model and life criteria: Heuristic pursuit of exact theoretical biology.
abstract: Gánti's chemoton model of the minimal chemical organization of living systems and life criteria for the living state and a living world are characterized. It is argued that these are better interpreted as part of a heuristic pursuit of an exact theoretical biology than as a "definition of life." Several problems with efforts to define life are discussed. Clarifying the proper use of Gánti's ideas to serve constructive engineering idealizations helps to show their enduring value.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. Electronic address: jrgriesemer@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Griesemer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001671:Biochemistry / Q000379:methods; D057005:Bioengineering / Q000379:methods; D005075:Biological Evolution; D008954:Models, Biological; D000069497:Origin of Life; D013597:Systems Analysis; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Chemoton model; Definition of life; Gánti; Life criteria