Using Genetic Algorithms to Explore Pattern Recognition in the Immune System

This paper describes an immune system model based on binary strings. The purpose of the model is to study the pattern recognition processes and learning that take place at both the individual and species levels in the immune system. The genetic algorithm (GA) is a central component of the model. The paper reports simulation experiments on two pattern recognition problems that are relevant to natural immune systems. Finally, it reviews the relation between the model and explicit fitness sharing techniques for genetic algorithms, showing that the immune system model implements a form of implicit fitness sharing. Keywords: Genetic algorithms, immune system, pattern recognition, fitness sharing. 1 Introduction Our immune system protects us from an extraordinarily large variety of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogenic organisms. It also constantly surveys the body for the presence of abnormal cells, such as tumor cells and virally infected cells, and destroys such cells when they are f..