Epigenetic Tracking: Biological Implications

“Epigenetic Tracking” is an evo-devo method to generate arbitrary 2d or 3d shapes; as such, it belongs to the field of “artificial embryology”. The objective of this paper is to explore the implications of the method for some relevant aspects of biology, namely junk DNA, the “ontogeny recapitulates philogeny” theory and the process of ageing. After presenting the latest experiments performed with 3d target shapes, the mentioned aspects are investigated and the explanation provided by Epigenetic Tracking is discussed. 1 Artificial Embryology and Epigenetic Tracking The previous work in the field of artificial embryology falls into two broad categories: the grammatical approach, originated by Lindenmayer (Lindenmayer, 1968) and the cell chemistry approach, that draws inspiration from the early work of Turing (Turing, 1952). Notable examples of grammatical embryogenies are (Hornby and Pollack, 2002), (Cangelosi et al., 2003) and (Gruau et al., 1996). Among cell chemistry embryogenies, we recall (Kauffman, 1969) and, more recently, (Bongard and Pfeifer, 2001), (Miller and Banzhaf, 2003) and (Doursat, 2007). “Epigenetic Tracking” (E.T.) is the name of an embryogeny applied to morphogenesis, i.e. the task of generating arbitrary 2d or 3d shapes (Fontana, 2008). In the present work, after reporting the results of the last experiments performed with 3d shapes, we will explore the implications of E.T. for some relevant aspects of biology: junk DNA, the “ontogeny recapitulates philogeny” theory and the process of ageing.