Gene interaction and modularisation in a model for gene-regulated development

Using a developmental genotype-phenotype map can possibly alleviate the scaling difficulties of EC, which are fundamental to applications such as EHW. We propose a simple model for gene-regulated development in combination with genetic algorithms, which is based on fundamental biological principles on the one hand, and allows investigation of concepts such as modularisation and evolvability. We propose activation propagation as a possible mechanism which genes interact in a gene-regulated development model. Based on this principle weights are assigned to genetic interactions between genes, the collection of which can be used to identify genetic modules. These modules are similar to the idea of genetic cascades in biology. Properties of these modules such as their sharing of genes, and the implications within development are discussed. We advocate the concept of propagation modules as a possible source of further investigation into the evolvability of gene-regulated development in the scope of genetic algorithms.