Nothing in evolution makes sense except in the light of parasitism: evolution of complex replication strategies.

ABSTRACT: Parasitism emerges readily in models and laboratory experiments of RNA world and would lead to extinction unless prevented by compartmentalization or spatial patterning. Modelling replication as an active computational process opens up many degrees of freedom that are exploited to meet environmental challenges, and to modify the evolutionary process itself. Here, we use automata chemistry models and spatial RNA-world models to study the emergence of parasitism and the complexity that evolves in response. The system is initialized with a hand-designed replicator that copies other replicators with a small chance of point mutation. Almost immediately, short parasites arise; these are copied more quickly, and so have an evolutionary advantage. The replicators also become shorter, and so are re

SUBMITTER: Hickinbotham SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8334846 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature