ABSTRACT
The contents of the previous chapter are sometimes confusing and I myself think they were not well written, but they more or less express my thought. Namely, that as we live in a spatial and temporal world, its various constituents have a structural and functional mode of existence, or, in other words, a bodily and lively manner of existence. If this world consists of living and nonliving things, then, in principle, this must be true for both. However, in order for living things to have structure and function and body and life, or even to maintain their existing state, they must constantly renew themselves. Living things maintain life through the continuous creation of new cells by old cells. For this biological process to proceed efficiently, living things must constantly obtain and absorb materials from outside and expel what they no longer need. Although they ingest matter and nonliving things, of this the body of living things is constructed. In other words, through the nourishment provided by the life of nonliving things, the life of living things grows and is maintained. However, I should add the following clarification. An atom of oxygen or a molecule of water, whether inside or outside the body, remains the same atom of oxygen or molecule of water. Since we have already succeeded in artificially producing some of the complex organic compounds found in the body of living things, the time certainly will come when the kinds and combinations of substances that make up living things will be known. Even so, at present to what extent is it possible to make even a very simple living thing artificially in a test tube?
