Self-organization of symbiotic multicellular structures

Abstract

This paper presents a new model for the development of artificial creatures from a single cell. The model aims at providing a more biologically plausible abstraction of the morphogenesis and the specialization process, which the organogenesis follows. It is built upon three main elements: a cellular physics system that simulates division and intercellular adhesion dynamics, a simplified cell cycle offering to the cells the possibility to select actions such as division, quiescence, differentiation or apoptosis and, finally, a cell specialization mechanism quantifying the ability to perform different functions. An evolved artificial gene regulatory network is employed as a cell controller. As a proof-of-concept, we present two experiments where the morphology of a multicellular organism is guided by cell weaknesses and efficiency at performing different functions under environmental stress.