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In this Share Your Research video, Dr. Alyssa Adams shares their work to develop a mathematical understanding of open-ended evolution.
Is it possible to define life using math? Dr. Alyssa Adams’s research seeks to answer precisely this question. In their Share Your Research talk, Dr. Adams introduces the concept of open-ended evolution, and describes how they have developed mathematical models to help us understand how biological systems can innovate within a changing environment. These studies could help us to identify living systems beyond our planet that may be vastly different from those we recognize on Earth!
0:00-4:10 How do we define life?
4:10-7:59 Mathematical definitions of evolution
8:00-16:51 Challenges to modeling biological evolution
16:52-19:55 A new approach to modeling evolution
19:56-23:07 Conclusion and next steps
Speaker Biography:
Alyssa Adams got their PhD in Physics at Arizona State University, where they studied the difference between living systems and non-living ones. Alyssa is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Morgridge Institute and the University of Wisconsin-Madison where they study interactions between viruses and hosts they infect. These interactions might help us understand how biological entities co-evolve and together drive new innovative processes.
Credits:
Brittany Anderton (iBiology): Producer
Eric Kornblum (iBiology): Videographer and Editor
Chris George (iBiology): Graphics
Maggie Hubbard (iBiology): Graphics
