2403.01 Material Capable of Self- Replication [R-08.2012]

Biological material includes material that is capable of self-replication either directly or indirectly. Direct self-replication includes those situations where the biological material reproduces by itself. Representative examples of materials capable of self-replication are defined in the rule. Indirect self-replication is meant to include those situations where the biological material is only capable of replication when another self-replicating biological material is present. Self-replication after insertion in a host is one example of indirect self-replication. Examples of indirect replicating biological materials include viruses, phages, plasmids, symbionts, and replication defective cells. The list of representative examples of each type of replicating material includes viruses to demonstrate that the two lists in the rule are not intended to be mutually exclusive.