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Autopoiesis, a term coined by Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, describes a system capable of producing and maintaining itself. It is a fundamental concept in understanding living organisms as autonomous entities. An autopoietic system is characterized by a network of processes that recursively generate the components of the system itself, thereby defining its boundaries and maintaining its organization. This self-production is key to the system's identity and distinguishes it from allopoietic systems, which produce something other than themselves.

Self-reproduction, in the context of autopoiesis, refers to the system's ability to create copies or new instances of itself. This is not a direct replication in the sense of genetic duplication but rather a process where the system's internal dynamics lead to the emergence of new, similar systems. The original system's organization and operational closure are crucial for this generative capacity. It implies that the system possesses the necessary components and the operational principles to assemble new systems that possess the same autopoietic properties.

The integration of autopoiesis and self-reproduction highlights the inherent dynamism and self-sustaining nature of life. It suggests that living systems are not merely passive recipients of external influences but active agents that continuously reconstruct themselves and, through their organizational principles, can give rise to new entities that share their fundamental characteristics. This perspective has implications for understanding the origins of life, evolution, and the nature of biological systems in general.