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A likely possibility: the molecules get replaced, but it's still the same cell.

Theseus Ship of cell replacement?

See The Delphic Boat [0] for a discussion of this in detail.

[0]: http://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti...

Wow, thanks for the link. Kind of humbling when you think you've hit on a clever reference and someone's written a book about it =)

DNA doesn't get replaced that I know of, and that's what they focused on.

The only way to get "new" DNA is for a cell to assemble a new strand during division.

DNA repair mechanisms can synthesise new segments in response to damage.

There was also a paper published last month claiming DNA synthesis following learning, but I'm sceptical:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29427086

Interesting paper. Do you work in the area? I'm working on proving that memories are in fact stored in genetic material, as was believed back in the 60s.

Drop me an email (gauravvman at gmail) if you're interested in this kind of stuff! Would like to know how you came across this paper.

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