Regarding the subject of biological identity, the main point is that there is an explicit transition from local interactions to the emergence of the "global" property ? that is, the virtual self of the cellular whole, in the case of autopoiesis. Its clear that molecules interact in very specific ways, giving rise to a unity that is the initiation of the self. There is also the transition from nonlife to life...
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/varela/varela_index.html
