Simulating the Evolution of Multicellularity

In this video I showcase a program that I have been working on for simulating evolution by natural selection. I dive into various mechanisms of the simulation and go over some interesting real-life biology in the process. The key aim of this project is to evolve multicellular organisms, starting from single-celled protozoa-like creatures that must collect mass and energy from their surroundings in order to survive, grow and reproduce.

This work was presented at the 2023 International Conference on Artificial Life. You can read a more detailed exploration of the project in the paper published in the conference proceedings:

Dylan Cope, 2023. "Real-time Evolution of Multicellularity with Artificial Gene Regulation." Proceedings of the 2023 Artificial Life Conference. MIT Press. https://direct.mit.edu/isal/proceedin...

If you want to run the simulation yourself or just poke around the code, you can find the project on GitHub:
https://github.com/DylanCope/ProtoEvo

Join the Discord:
  / discord  

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:24 - Recapping Simulation Basics
02:27 - How Do Computers Simulate Evolution?
04:46 - Introducing Gene Regulation
05:15 - Why is Gene Regulation Important?
07:44 - Implementing GRNs In The Simulation
10:07 - The Surface Nodes System
12:37 - Looking At A GRN
14:13 - Looking At Cell Signalling
16:40 - Conclusions

Credits and References:

Neil Shubin, Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA
https://www.amazon.com/Some-Assembly-...

John Holland, Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence
https://www.amazon.com/Adaptation-Nat...

“Darwin’s Finches”, Illustrated by John Gould, in “Journal of Researches”, Darwin, 1845
https://picryl.com/media/darwins-finc...

Epigenetics Mechanisms Diagram, United States National Institutes of Health
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigene...

Cell Types Diagram, Wikipedia Contributor Haileyfournier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellula...

Tectonic plates animation: Scotese, C.R., 2016. Plate Tectonics, Paleogeography, and Ice Ages, (Modern World - 540Ma)
   • Plate Tectonics,  540Ma - Modern Worl...  

Genetic Algorithms Diagram
https://www.strong.io/blog/evolutiona...

Galapagos Finch Evolution — HHMI BioInteractive Video
   • Galapagos Finch Evolution — HHMI BioI...  

Evolution Tree of Life Diagram
https://www.evogeneao.com/en/learn/tr...

Music by Vincent Rubinetti
Download the music on Bandcamp:
https://vincerubinetti.bandcamp.com/a...
Stream the music on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1dVyjw...