Generally a planted zygote matures into an isolated CA. It creates its functionality by interacting with the environment. The present experiment demonstrates the reaction of the CA to injury. After the zygote has been planted the CA grows and at t = 61 it is fully mature. This state is the first in its 46 period cycle. Injury consists of setting the lowest CA bit to zero. ( additional information)The experiment was run 46 times. At each occasion a different state was injured.
1. The first CA is uninjured (isolated).
2. When the second reached state = 9 it was injured and soon died.
3. The third was injured at state = 13 whereupon it moved to a different attractor (solution).
4. Following injury at state = 17, the CA traversed a transient and then created a new solution (heart).
5. When injured at state =20 the CA entered a prolonged transient which was not followed further. Its outcome is either death or a solution.
Potential functions
The 46 states represent a repertoire of CA functions triggered by the one bit injury. Different injuries will trigger different functions. In the isolated CA the 46 states store the information on potential functions which show up when triggered by the environment.
Genotype and phenotype
All this is inherent already in the zygote, and determined by its rule = 600. You might regards the couplet {initial condition = 1, Rule =600} as the CA genotype and the various functions triggered by the environment as its phenotype. Which illustrates the relationship between genotype and phenotype in the organism. Each cell in the organism carries its genotype. Its phenotype is triggered by its immediate environment.
Additional reading on Injury and Repair
