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/proceedings/isal2023/35/77/116930 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: https://discord.com/invite/GY5UJxbBnq 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-Required-Decoding-Billion/dp/1101871334 John Holland, Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems: An Introductory Analysis with Applications to Biology, Control, and Artificial Intelligence https://www.amazon.com/Adaptation-Natural-Artificial-Systems-Introductory/dp/0262581116 “Darwin’s Finches”, Illustrated by John Gould, in “Journal of Researches”, Darwin, 1845 https://picryl.com/media/darwins-finches-by-gould-a6e32a Epigenetics Mechanisms Diagram, United States National Institutes of Health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics#/media/File:Epigenetic_mechanisms.png Cell Types Diagram, Wikipedia Contributor Haileyfournier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_differentiation#/media/File:Final_stem_cell_differentiation_(1).svg Tectonic plates animation: Scotese, C.R., 2016. Plate Tectonics, Paleogeography, and Ice Ages, (Modern World - 540Ma) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_iEWvtKcuQ&t=0s Genetic Algorithms Diagram https://www.strong.io/blog/evolutionary-optimization Galapagos Finch Evolution — HHMI BioInteractive Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcM23M-CCog&t=1s&ab_channel=biointeractive Evolution Tree of Life Diagram https://www.evogeneao.com/en/learn/tree-of-life 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...