@inproceedings{6b03d9f6abb34d5dafcaa293b4e49399,
title = "Self-referencing cellular automata: A model of the evolution of information control in biological systems",
abstract = "Cellular automata have been useful artificial models for exploring how relatively simple rules combined with spatial memory can give rise to complex emergent patterns. Moreover, studying the dynamics of how rules emerge under artificial selection for function has recently become a powerful tool for understanding how evolution can innovate within its genetic rule space. However, conventional cellular automata lack the kind of state feedback that is surely present in natural evolving systems. Each new generation of a population leaves an indelible mark on its environment and thus affects the selective pressures that shape future generations of that population. To model this phenomenon, we have augmented traditional cellular automata with state-dependent feedback. Rather than generating automata executions from an initial condition and a static rule, we introducemappings which generate iteration rules from the cellular automaton itself. We show that these new automata contain disconnected regions which locally act like conventional automata, thus encapsulating multiple functions into one structure. Consequently, we have provided a new model for processes like cell differentiation. Finally, by studying the size of these regions, we provide additional evidence that the dynamics of self-reference may be critical to understanding the evolution of natural language. In particular, the rules of elementary cellular automata appear to be distributed in the same way as words in the corpus of a natural language.",
author = "Pavlic, {Theodore P.} and Adams, {Alyssa M.} and Davies, {Paul C.W.} and Walker, {Sara Imari}",
note = "Funding Information: Kunihiko Kaneko and Larissa Albantakis provided useful feedback on earlier versions of thiswork. Interaction with them was possible due to a workshop on Information, Complexity, and Life organized by the BEYOND Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University. Andrea Richa also provided helpful comments regarding the presentation of this material. This project/publication was made possible through support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Artificial Life 14 - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, ALIFE 2014. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.; 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, ALIFE 2014 ; Conference date: 30-07-2014 Through 02-08-2014",
year = "2014",
language = "English (US)",
series = "Artificial Life 14 - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, ALIFE 2014",
publisher = "MIT Press Journals",
pages = "522--529",
editor = "Hiroki Sayama and John Rieffel and Sebastian Risi and Rene Doursat and Hod Lipson",
booktitle = "Artificial Life 14 - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, ALIFE 2014",
}