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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:Bioinformatics Seminar
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260909T125915Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_47251636570932
DTSTART:20240925T153000Z
DTEND:20240925T170000Z
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Ard Louis (University of Oxford)\n\nTitle:  Does evol
 ution have an inbuilt bias towards highly compressible phenotypes? \n\nAbs
 tract:  Darwinian evolution proceeds by natural selection acting on random
  variation. I will argue that\, although mutations are random\, the novel 
 phenotypes they produce can be highly biased towards simple or more compre
 ssible forms. This bias is so strong that it can dramatically shape the sp
 ectrum of adaptive outcomes. The basic intuition follows from an algorithm
 ic twist on the infinite monkey theorem inspired by the fact that natural 
 selection doesn’t act directly on mutations\, but rather on the phenotyp
 es that are generated by developmental programmes. If monkeys type at rand
 om in a computer language\, they are much more likely to generate outputs 
 derived from shorter algorithms. This intuition can be formalised with the
  coding theorem of algorithmic information theory\, predicting that random
  mutations are exponentially more likely to result in simpler\, more compr
 essible phenotypes with low descriptional (Kolmogorov) complexity. Evidenc
 e for this evolutionary Occam’s razor can be found in the symmetry in pr
 otein complexes [1]\, and in the simplicity of RNA secondary structures [2
 ]\, gene regulatory networks\, leaf shape\, and Richard Dawkins’ biomorp
 hs model of development [3]. This principle may also extend to machine lea
 rning\, offering insights into why neural networks generalize well on typi
 cal datasets [4].\n\n[1] Symmetry and simplicity spontaneously emerge from
  the algorithmic nature of evolution\, IG Johnston\, et al\, PNAS 119 (11)
 \, e2113883119 (2022)\;\n[2] Phenotype bias determines how RNA structures 
 occupy the morphospace of all possible shapes\, Kamaludin Dingle\, Fatme G
 haddar\, Petr Sulc\, and Ard A. Louis. Molecular Biology and Evolution\, 3
 9\, msab280 (2021)\n[3] Bias in the arrival of variation can dominate over
  natural selection in Richard Dawkins’s biomorphs\, NS Martin\, CQ Camar
 go\, AA Louis PLOS Comp. Bio. 20 (3)\, e1011893 (2024)\n[4] Do deep neural
  networks have an inbuilt Occam's razor? C Mingard\, H Rees\, G Valle-Pér
 ez\, AA Louis arXiv preprint arXiv:2304.06670\n\nIn person or on Zoom at h
 ttps://mit.zoom.us/j/93513735220
LOCATION:MIT\, 32-G575
SUMMARY:Bioinformatics Seminar
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/copy-of-bioinformatics-seminar
 -92
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