Genetics and the Game
In the past there have been studies of applying game theory to biology. One of the more popular examples of such a thing would be game theory regarding evolution and the concepts of survival of the fittest. Even in every day life people know the effects of their genes on them which set them apart from others, that they have inherited from their parents and those before them. However, a newer study of genetics in Berkeley show a new and revolutionary way to look at game theory and its regards to life. This study says that genetics as a whole is a singular string of games which is trying to find the best and optimal genes for mankind as a whole as their observation had accurately matched a game theory algorithm called the multiplicative weights update algorithm.
Of course, most know from biology that genetic diversity in the gene pool is vital to ensure that the species can adapt to a changes in their environment, but long have scientists struggled to figure out exactly why this can be maintained to such an extent. The team at Berkeley’s discovery provides an interesting and thought-provoking approach to viewing evolutionary biology. This study however, is still but an observation and more testing and observation is yet to be conducted. As this study fits into a long history of mathematical models being dissimilar to how evolutionary biology works in practice, many evolutionary biologists are reluctant to take this study as a applicable conclusion, but it has still been noted to be an observation that may provide important insight regarding the whole process. Just like what we have learned in class, genetics works like a game similar to the prisoner’s dilemma, but instead of a game from individual to individual, this study says that is a singular game for the entire gene pool which repeats in a way like a matching market, updating on its price and value. As a conclusion, this study was but just a preliminary observation, but one that has yet to be fully pursued.
Sources:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1404.0994.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jun/20/game-theory-life-qanta-magazine