Editing Self-replication (section)

===Classes of self-replication===
Recent research<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.1.htm | date = 2004 | access-date = 29 June 2013 | last1 = Freitas | first1 = Robert | last2 = Merkle | first2 = Ralph | title = Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines - General Taxonomy of Replicators}}</ref> has begun to categorize replicators, often based on the amount of support they require.

*Natural replicators have all or most of their design from nonhuman sources. Such systems include natural life forms.
*[[Autotroph]]ic replicators can reproduce themselves "in the wild".  They mine their own materials. It is conjectured that non-biological autotrophic replicators could be designed by humans, and could easily accept specifications for human products.
*Self-reproductive systems are conjectured systems which would produce copies of themselves from industrial feedstocks such as metal bar and wire.
*[[Self-assembly|Self-assembling]] systems assemble copies of themselves from finished, delivered parts. Simple examples of such systems have been demonstrated at the macro scale.

The design space for machine replicators is very broad. A comprehensive study<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.MolecularAssembler.com/KSRM/5.1.9.htm | date = 2004 | access-date = 29 June 2013 | last1 = Freitas | first1 = Robert | last2 = Merkle | first2 = Ralph | title = Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines - Freitas-Merkle Map of the Kinematic Replicator Design Space (2003–2004)}}</ref> to date by [[Robert Freitas]] and [[Ralph Merkle]] has identified 137 design dimensions grouped into a dozen separate categories, including: (1) Replication Control, (2) Replication Information, (3) Replication Substrate, (4) Replicator Structure, (5) Passive Parts, (6) Active Subunits, (7) Replicator Energetics, (8) Replicator Kinematics, (9) Replication Process, (10) Replicator Performance, (11) Product Structure, and (12) Evolvability.