Modeling DNA replication mechanisms with text. A project from Science Hack Day SF 2013

1. TextEvolution: Modeling DNA
replication mechanisms with text
Science Hack Day SF 2013
David Harris

2. Mutations and repairs
• Point mutation -> letter substitution
• Insertion mutation -> letter insertion
• Deletion mutation -> letter deletion
• Repair -> spellcheck and replace “broken” words with
best guess at correct word (sometimes you get a favorable
mutation)

3. Parameters
• Do nothing rate
• Point mutation rate
• Insertion rate
• Deletion rate
• Number of generations

4. Examples
• From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful
and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
• Fro simple beginning endlessness Dost beautiful and Yost
Wonderful been and bing evolved
• Simple beginning endlessness Dost Beautiful Wonderful
beebread evolved
• beginning godlessness Beebread Evolve

5. Examples
• An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy,
would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than
most men.
• Americana monkey after getting drunkenness ditch
against embouchure ooze Chaw most men
• Americana Asterisking drunkenness Chauvinist

6. Examples
• I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so
intolerably dull that it nauseated me.
• Haversack laxity raped fun so intolerable deal Cronkite
nauseated me

7. Examples
• I love fools' experiments. I am always making them.
• lovelinesses allay marring Oh
• lonelinesses Earring

8. Lessons
• Mutations often kill off species (words)
• Having an insertion or deletion rate too high very rapidly
kills off species (words)
• There are some bizarre words in the English language