"
Team:Copenhagen/Ethics/MachineDiscussion
From 2011.igem.org
Revision as of 09:35, 29 July 2011 by Lichtenberg (Talk | contribs)
Machines</p>
Are there any philosophical implications in regarding living organisms as machines and treating them as such?
What defines a machine? Vs. What defines a life?
With that in mind, is it correct to refer to the organisms and biological systems that we create as machines? Is a machine built from scratch by man, or can a manipulated organism become a machine? Could an organism that we manipulated to serve one specific purpose, for example to produce insulin, be regarded as a machine? If yes, is there a difference from this manipulated organism to a cow producing milk?
Is it at all relevant to discuss the difference between a biological machine and an organism?
