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European Conference on Artificial Life

ECAL 1995: Advances in Artificial Life pp 219–233Cite as

The coevolution of mutation rates

  • 2. Origins of Life and Evolution
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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 929))

Abstract

In order to better understand life, it is helpful to look beyond the envelop of life as we know it. A simple model of coevolution was implemented with the addition of genes for longevity and mutation rate in the individuals. This made it possible for a lineage to evolve to be immortal. It also allowed the evolution of no mutation or extremely high mutation rates. The model shows that when the individuals interact in a sort of zero-sum game, the lineages maintain relatively high mutation rates. However, when individuals engage in interactions that have greater consequences for one individual in the interaction than the other, lineages tend to evolve relatively low mutation rates. This model suggests that different genes may have evolved different mutation rates as adaptations to the varying pressures of interactions with other genes.

This work was supported in part by the generosity of the MIT AI Lab. I am greatful to M. Donoghue, P. Goss, K. Rice and L. King for their comments and support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 545 Technology Sq., NE43-803, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Carlo Maley

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  1. Carlo Maley
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Editor information

Federico Morán Alvaro Moreno Juan Julián Merelo Pablo Chacón

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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Maley, C. (1995). The coevolution of mutation rates. In: Morán, F., Moreno, A., Merelo, J.J., Chacón, P. (eds) Advances in Artificial Life. ECAL 1995. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 929. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-59496-5_301

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-59496-5_301

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-59496-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49286-3

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