The Coevolution of Mutation Rates

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 diierent genes may have evolved diierent mutation rates as adaptations to the varying pressures of interactions with other genes. 1 The Possibilities of Life : : :we badly need a comparative biology. So far, we have been able to study only one evolving system and we cannot wait for interstellar ight to provide us with a second. If we want to discover generalizations about evolving systems, we will have to look at artiicial ones. We only have a single example of the evolution of life. With a sample of one, it is diicult, if not impossible, to distinguish between historical and systematic constraints on the evolution of life. Artiicial Life represents an emerging complementary approach to understanding biology.