Autopoiesis,

Definition of Autopoiesis:

1. The self-maintenance of an organized entity through its own internal processes; (in extended use) self-organization, self-regulation.

2. Theory that living systems are self producing mechanisms which maintain their particular form despite material inflow and outflow, through self-regulation and self-reference. Proposed by Chilean scientists Humberto Maturana (1928-) and Francisco Varela (1946-2001) in late 1960s or early 1970s, it combines the concepts of homeostasis and systems thinking.