Simulation of a Chemical Autonomous Agent

On the way towards ‘basic autonomous agents’: Stochastic simulations of minimal lipid–peptide cells

In this paper, we apply a recently developed stochastic simulation platform to investigate the dynamic behaviour of minimal 'self-(re-)producing' cellular systems. In particular, we study a set of preliminary conditions for appearance of the simplest forms of autonomy in the context of lipid vesicles (more specifically, lipid-peptide vesicles) that enclose an autocatalytic/proto-metabolic reaction network. The problem is approached from a 'bottom-up' perspective, in the sense that we try to show how relatively simple cell components/processes could engage in a far-from-equilibrium dynamics, staying in those conditions thanks to a rudimentary but effective control of the matter-energy flow through it. In this general scenario, basic autonomy and, together with it, minimal agent systems would appear when (hypothetically pre-biological) cellular systems establish molecular trans-membrane mechanisms that allow them to couple internal chemical reactions with transport processes, in a way that they channel/transform external material-energetic resources into their own means and actively regulate boundary conditions (e.g., osmotic gradients, inflow/outflow of different compounds, ...) that are critical for their constitution and persistence as proto-metabolic cells. The results of our simulations indicate that, before that stage is reached, there are a number of relevant issues that have to be carefully analysed and clarified: especially the immediate effects that the insertion of peptide chains (channel precursors) in the lipid bilayer may have in the structural properties of the membrane (elasticity, permeability, ...) and in the overall dynamic behaviour of the cell.

The autonomy of biological individuals and artificial models

This paper aims to offer an overview of the meaning of autonomy for biological individuals and artificial models rooted in a specific perspective that pays attention to the historical and structural aspects of its origins and evolution. Taking autopoiesis and the recursivity characteristic of its circular logic as a starting point, we depart from some of its consequences to claim that the theory of autonomy should also take into account historical and structural features. Autonomy should not be considered only in internal or constitutive terms, the largely neglected interactive aspects stemming from it should be equally addressed. Artificial models contribute to get a better understanding of the role of autonomy for life and the varieties of its organization and phenomenological diversity.