Related papers: Positive mutations and mutation-dependent Verhulst…
The reward system is one of the fundamental drivers of animal behaviors and is critical for survival and reproduction. Despite its importance, the problem of how the reward system has evolved is underexplored. In this paper, we try to…
A deterministic model of an age-structured population with genetics analogous to the discrete time Penna model of genetic evolution is constructed on the basis of the Lotka-Volterra scheme. It is shown that if, as in the Penna model,…
Although species longevity is subject to a diverse range of selective forces, the mortality curves of a wide variety of organisms are rather similar. We argue that aging and its universal characteristics may have evolved by means of a…
Can unicellular organisms survive a drastic temperature change, and adapt to it after many generations? In simulations of the Penna model of biological ageing, both extinction and adaptation were found for asexual and sexual reproduction as…
The possible coexistence of one host, one aggressive parasite and one non-lethal parasite is simulated using the Penna model of biological ageing. If the aggressive parasites survive the difficult initial times where they have to adjust…
The idea of this review is to connect the different models of evolution to those of biological ageing through Darwin's theory. We start with the Eigen model of quasispecies for microevolution, then introduce the Bak-Sneppen model for…
We build upon the recent steady-state Penna model solution, Phys.Rev.Lett. 89, 288103 (2002), to study the population dynamics within the Penna model. We show, that any perturbation to the population can be broken into a collection of modes…
The population in the sexual Penna ageing model is first separated into several reproductively isolated groups. Then, after equilibration, sexual mixing between the groups is allowed. We study the changes in the population size due to this…
We consider a model of a population with fixed size $N$, which is subjected to an unlimited supply of beneficial mutations at a constant rate $\mu_N$. Individuals with $k$ beneficial mutations have the fitness $(1+s_N)^k$. Each individual…
Aging is thought to be a consequence of intrinsic breakdowns in how genetic information is processed. But mounting experimental evidence suggests that aging can be slowed. To help resolve this mystery, I derive a mortality equation which…
The question of why we age is a fundamental one. It is about who we are, and it also might have critical practical aspects as we try to find ways to age slower. Or to not age at all. Different reasons point at distinct strategies for the…
The catastrophic senescence of the Pacific salmon is among the initial tests used to validate the Penna aging model. Based on the mutation accumulation theory, the sudden decrease in fitness following reproduction may be solely attributed…
We present a model for biological aging that considers the number of individuals whose (inherited) genetic charge determines the maximum age for death: each individual may die before that age due to some external factor, but never after…
We show how concepts from statistical physics, such as order parameter, thermodynamic limit, and quantum phase transition, translate into biological concepts in mutation-selection models for sequence evolution and can be used there. The…
We propose a one mutation model for cancer with a mutation rate that increases with time. Under rather general hypotheses the number of mutations is necessarily a (non homogeneous) Poisson process with the prescribed mutation rate. We show…
The understanding of language competition helps us to predict extinction and survival of languages spoken by minorities. A simple agent-based model of a sexual population, based on the Penna model, is built in order to find out under which…
An agent-based computer simulation of death by inheritable mutations in a changing environment shows a maximal population, or avoids extinction, at so intermediate mutation rate of the individuals. Thus death seems needed to al for…
We introduce a square lattice into the Penna bit-string model for biological ageing and study the evolution of the spatial distribution of the population considering different strategies of child-care. Two of the strategies are related to…
A probability model is presented for the dynamics of mutation-selection balance in a haploid infinite-population infinite-sites setting sufficiently general to cover mutation-driven changes in full age-specific demographic schedules. The…
A square lattice is introduced into the Penna model for biological aging in order to study the evolution of diploid sexual populations under certain conditions when one single locus in the individual's genome is considered as identifier of…