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Science 22 March 2002:
Vol. 295. no. 5563, pp. 2215 - 2216
DOI: 10.1126/science.1068489
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Essays on Science and Society

Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

SPECIAL ESSAY:
The Seven Pillars of Life

Daniel E. Koshland Jr.

Current interest in discovering life in other galaxies and in recreating life in artificial systems creates a desire to define the foundations of life. Naming and elucidating these fundamental principles, their operation, and why they are essential to life allows us to think differently about the goals and therapeutic approaches of current research. In this essay, Koshland defines the seven pillars of life as program, improvisation, compartmentalization, energy, regeneration, adaptability, and seclusion.

The author is in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3206, USA, and a former Editor-in-Chief of Science.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Extending molecular modeling methodology to study insertion of membrane nanopores.
A. Aksimentiev and K. Schulten (2004)
PNAS 101, 4337-4338
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E-Letters:

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Untitled
Muhammad Shahabuddin
Science Online, 16 Apr 2002 [Full text]
Reproduction Not for Regeneration
Anthony H. Notario
Science Online, 16 May 2002 [Full text]

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)