# biological (life)

it is about matter that lives

- Computed level: L16 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: biological  ·  Arena: biological.adjective

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [matter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-matter.substance), [live](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-live.biological), [life](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-life.biological)

**Through:** when a pattern of energy persists through time and uses energy to maintain its state despite changes, it exhibits biological life

**Novel properties:**
- self-maintenance
- adaptive persistence
- organized continuity

## Examples
- E. coli bacteria replicate every 20 minutes in a human gut at 37°C. *(biology)*
- The Amazon rainforest regenerates its canopy after a lightning-caused fire. *(ecology)*
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis persists in human lungs for years undetected. *(medicine)*

## Used by
- [dog](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-dog.animal) (L17)

---
*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-biological.life*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-biological.life.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*