1997/08/06 by Jaime Font de Mora, Mora, J., Chris Stephens +3
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Medicine · #Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO) #Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models #Quantitative Biology (q-bio)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.adap-org/9708004
openalex publication_date 1997/08/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We argue that the phenomenon of symmetry breaking in genetics can enhance the adaptability of a species to changes in the environment. In the case of a virus, the claim is that the codon bias in the neutralization epitope improves the virus' ability to generate mutants that evade the induced immune response. We support our claim with a simple ``toy model'' of a viral epitope evolving in competition with the immune system. The effective selective advantage of a higher mutability leads to a dominance of codons that favour non-synonymous mutations. The results in this paper suggest the possibility of emergence of an algorithmic language in more complicated systems.