The food replicators operate at a higher resolution to the hardware replicators, as not to significantly affect the taste of the food. Some replicators for use in sickbays operate a higher resolution still. To cut down on energy usage the replicators don't create matter from energy, but use raw materials, which they reorganise into other things. Replicators all function at a molecular level, and any attempt to replicate a living organism would result in the new organism suffer genetic damage in a similar way to radiation exposure. The replicators operate at this resolution because it takes about 2.7 x 10^9 less space to store the item's pattern.