The Silent Cooperator: An Epigenetic Model for Emergence of Altruistic Traits in Biological Systems
Joint Authors
Hashem, I.
Telen, D.
Nimmegeers, P.
Van Impe, J.
Source
Issue
Vol. 2018, Issue 2018 (31 Dec. 2018), pp.1-16, 16 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2018-09-18
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
16
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
Spatial evolutionary game theory explains how cooperative traits can survive the intense competition in biological systems.
If the spatial distribution allows cooperators to interact with each other frequently, the benefits of cooperation will outweigh the losses due to exploitation by selfish organisms.
However, for a cooperative behavior to get established in a system, it needs to be found initially in a sufficiently large cluster to allow a high frequency of intracooperator interactions.
Since mutations are rare events, this poses the question of how cooperation can arise in a biological system in the first place.
We present a simple model which captures two concepts from genetics that can explain how evolution overcomes the emergence problem.
The first concept is, often in nature, a gene may not express its phenotype except under specific environmental conditions, rendering it to be a “silent” gene.
The second key idea is that a neutral gene, one that does not harm or improve an organism’s survival chances, can still spread through a population if it is physically near to another gene that is positively selected.
Through these two ideas, our model offers a possible solution to the fundamental problem of emergence of cooperation in biological systems.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Hashem, I.& Telen, D.& Nimmegeers, P.& Van Impe, J.. 2018. The Silent Cooperator: An Epigenetic Model for Emergence of Altruistic Traits in Biological Systems. Complexity،Vol. 2018, no. 2018, pp.1-16.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1133133
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Hashem, I.…[et al.]. The Silent Cooperator: An Epigenetic Model for Emergence of Altruistic Traits in Biological Systems. Complexity No. 2018 (2018), pp.1-16.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1133133
American Medical Association (AMA)
Hashem, I.& Telen, D.& Nimmegeers, P.& Van Impe, J.. The Silent Cooperator: An Epigenetic Model for Emergence of Altruistic Traits in Biological Systems. Complexity. 2018. Vol. 2018, no. 2018, pp.1-16.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1133133
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1133133