Dynamics of Gene Expression in an Artificial Genome — Implications for Biological and Artificial Ontogeny

An artificial genome with biologically plausible properties was developed and the dynamics of gene expression were studied. The model differs from previous approaches, such as Random Boolean Nets [1], in that it is entirely based on template matching in a nucleotide-like sequence. Genes activate or inhibit other genes by binding to their regulatory sequences.The results of the experiments suggest that many features of real-life development, such as cyclic gene activity, differentiation into multiple cell types, and robusteness may be inherent properties of a template-matching system rather than necessarily designed from scratch by Natural Selection. Moreover, the system may provide a new hypothesis about the role of junk DNA in real genomes. In addition to these biological implications, the approach used here is thought to provide a flexible basis for future simulations of morphogenesis.