organismilla

Organismilla is a hypothetical or fictional unit used in biology and science education to illustrate the lower limits of life and the transition from nonliving chemistry to living systems. The name combines organism with the diminutive suffix -illa, signaling a very small or simple organism. It has no formal taxonomic status.

In theoretical models, an organismilla would have a simple lipid envelope, a minimal set of biomolecules, and a metabolism capable of growth from basic energy sources. Its genome would be compact, encoding essential replication and maintenance functions. Reproduction could be by simple division or budding, with limited genetic exchange.

Organismilla lacks nuclei and advanced cellular architecture, resembling protocells or minimalist synthetic cells used in origin of life studies. It is not a real clade, but a teaching or thought-experiment construct.

The concept is used to discuss the definition of life, the idea of a minimal viable genome, and the challenges of abiogenesis. It helps illuminate debates about biosignatures, stability, and the criteria needed for self-sustaining metabolism.

In education and fiction, organismilla appears as a heuristic tool in textbooks and speculative narratives to explore primitive life and the ethical implications of creating minimal living systems.