self-replicating

[self-rep-li-key-ting, self-]

adjective

1. reproducing itself by its own power or inherent nature.

   self-replicating organisms.

2. Genetics.,  making an exact copy or copies of itself, as a strand of DNA.

Other Word Forms

• self-replication noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-replicating¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Let’s be clear: like science fiction, mirror bacteria — full mirror organisms capable of self-replicating and taking on all of our immune systems — don’t exist yet in the real world.

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But mirror bacteria, which would be living organisms capable of self-replicating, not just little bits of protein, are what Kay and his fellow scientists are concerned about.

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Venter replicated the DNA of a bacterium in 2008 and in 2010 announced the creation of a self-replicating synthetic genome, or DNA, in a bacterium taken from a different species, spurring a bioethics investigation of the developing field of synthetic biology by then-President Obama that identified limited risks.

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Curiously, of the 4.9 billion reactions generated, only hundreds of reaction cycles could be called "self-replicating," which means that the molecules produce additional copies of themselves.

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And it can become self-replicating.

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