Simulating an Evolving Microcosmos: The Path to Multicellularity

In this video I showcase a program that I have been working on for simulating evolution by natural selection. I dive into various mechanisms of the simulation and go over some interesting real-life biology in the process. The key aim of this project is to evolve multicellular organisms, starting from single-celled protozoa-like creatures that must collect mass and energy from their surroundings in order to survive, grow and reproduce. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 00:56 - Life of a protozoan 02:46 - The start of the simulation 05:57 - How the cells work 06:53 - Introducing multicellular colonies 08:33 - Understanding evolution 11:38 - Looking at data from the simulation 13:27 - Evolving epigenetics introduction 14:14 - Waddington’s Landscape and cell specialisation 15:22 - The Central Dogma of Molecular Biology 16:05 - Gene Regulatory Networks 16:54 - Outro 17:30 - Watching the simulation Find the project on GitHub: Credits: Tectonic plates animation: Scotese, C.R., 2016. Plate Tectonics, Paleogeography, and Ice Ages, (Modern World - 540Ma) Gene expression and cell specialisation diagram: Prof. Dave Explains, 2017. The origin of multicellular life Stock footage of organisms under a microscope: Music by Vincent Rubinetti Download the music on Bandcamp: Stream the music on Spotify: This video was made possible thanks to the fantastic mathematical animation software Manim Community, originally developed by @3blue1brown Socials: Twitter: