| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 44823 |
| QUOTATION: | We can come up with a working definition of life, which is what we did for the Viking mission to Mars. We said we could think in terms of a large molecule made up of carbon compounds that can replicate, or make copies of itself, and metabolize food and energy. So that’s the thought: macrocolecule, metabolism, replication. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Cyril Ponnamperuma (b. 1923), Sri Lankan N U.S. scientist. The Omni Interviews, “Seeds of Life,” Ticknor & Fields (1984). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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