摘要翻译：
传统上，生命是由一长串属性定义的，但将结构分类为有生命或非有生命需要一个单一的可识别的区别。在围绕生命的理论和定义的许多概念困难和哲学见解中，也许最相关的是我们可能还没有一个足够的系统或周期表来描述这种差异。然而，最近的经验证据表明，一系列生物分子，包括核酶和具有旋转或棘轮亚基的酶，在热搅拌和能量交换的驱动下经历重复的构象状态变化，进而控制对代谢和复制至关重要的反应的催化。这些分子表现出不同的结构，但共享由热力学梯度驱动的重复单向构象变化的原理，产生定向运动。在这里，生命被定义为一个自我调节的过程，在这个过程中，物质经历循环的、单向的构象状态变化，将热搅动和激发转化为定向运动，执行局部降低熵的功。推而广之，生物是一种结构，至少部分地包括一个根据热机原理运行的单元的自治网络。热机自调节网络的原理不依赖于任何特定的化学环境或分子结构；这一定义应普遍适用于具有不同生物化学特征的生物圈。
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英文标题：
《Life is the self-regulating conversion of thermodynamic disequilibria
  into directed motion》
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作者：
Simon Pierce
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最新提交年份：
2021
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分类信息：

一级分类：Quantitative Biology        数量生物学
二级分类：Other Quantitative Biology        其他定量生物学
分类描述：Work in quantitative biology that does not fit into the other q-bio classifications
不适合其他q-bio分类的定量生物学工作
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英文摘要：
  Life is traditionally defined by a long list of properties, but classifying structures as living or non-living would require a single recognizable difference. Of the many conceptual difficulties and philosophical insights surrounding a theory and definition of life, perhaps the most pertinent is that we may not yet have an adequate system or periodic table with which to delineate this difference. However, recent empirical evidence shows that a range of biological molecules, including ribozymes and enzymes with rotating or ratcheting subunits, undergo repetitive conformation state changes driven by thermal agitation and energy exchanges, in turn governing catalysis of reactions fundamental to metabolism and replication. These molecules exhibit disparate structures, but share the principle of repetitive unidirectional conformation changes driven by thermodynamic gradients, producing directional motion. Here, life is defined as a self-regulating process whereby matter undergoes cyclic, unidirectional conformation state changes that convert thermal agitation and excitation into directed motion, performing work that locally reduces entropy. By extension, a living thing is a structure comprising, at least in part, an autonomous network of units operating on the heat engine principle. The principle of self-regulating networks of heat engines is independent of any specific chemical environment or molecular structure; this definition should apply universally across biospheres characterized by differing biochemistries.
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PDF链接：
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.05656