A Hybrid Off/On-Lattice Model of Emergence and Maintenance Autopoiesis

We propose an original 2D agent-based model of biological “autopoiesis”, the process by which a cell creates and continu-ously regenerates itself, considered one of the defining charac-teristics of life. In the space of our simulations, the positions of free molecules are continuous, and polymerized membrane components are regularly arranged (plus noise). While autopoi-esis commonly refers to the self-driven maintenance of a sys-tem, we also follow Varela’s historical study of emergence, and show that the same model can account for both self-perpetuation and self-formation—a step toward uniting the three main perspectives on life: origins, autopoiesis, and repli-cation. Exploring different initial and environmental conditions, we observe that destructive reactions are important for the sur-vival of our autopoietic system, and evaluate their impact on its lifespan. The tendency of cells to form spurious outgrowths is counteracted by moderate decay of the membrane