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Understanding life supposes that one will,one day,reconstruct cells. A deep analysis of what life is shows that a cell is similar to a computers making computer. This asks for several orginal levels of organisation. First,the cell needs to be seen as a machine separated from the genetic program,which it runs. Over generations the machine reproduces,while the program replicates. Reproduction is a process which is able to accumulate valuable information over generations. Extracting valuable information from an ocean of noise requires an energy-dependent process which uses energy to prevent degradation of functional entities. Analysis of bacterial genomes shows that the core set of genes which persist in most genomes code for the functions needed to perform this process of ratchet-like information accumulation. It also suggests that a mineral,polyphosphates,could be a ubiquitous (and stable) energy source essential for the process.
