Allopoiesis

Allopoiesis ( Greek: αλλ ( ο ) - allo "different, different " and ποιεῖν poiein " create, build " ) refers to a system that can not reproduce itself and its products are not even there. Allopoietische systems are thus not autonomous. The term comes from systems theory and is the opposite of autopoiesis.

The neurobiologist Humberto Maturana uses the term for systems that are not alive, because they are autopoietic according to its definition. An example is an assembly line, where the product has (for example, a motor vehicle ) in the control case has nothing to do with the manufacturing -related machines. Another example are viruses that can operate without self-reproduction and require a host cell for reproduction.