Word: rna
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...these things alive? That depends on how the term is defined. Surprisingly, there is no clear definition of "life." Most of the criteria put forward in the past are anthropocentric. Life on earth is carbon-based and built around the nucleic acids RNA and DNA, but that may be a historical accident. Most living things metabolize and multiply, but not all. Viruses have no metabolisms of their own; mules cannot reproduce. Many living things grow, but so do clouds and garbage dumps...