Welcome to the DevoLab
The MSU Digital Evolution Laboratory (Devolab) was founded at Michigan State University in 1999 by Drs. Charles Ofria and Richard Lenski. We perform experimental studies on digital organisms with the twin goals of improving our understanding of how natural evolution works, and applying this knowledge to solving computational, engineering, and biological problems. Over the years the Devolab has grown significantly in both number of people and the breadth of their research.
Why Digital? A faster way to study evolution.
Natural organisms can take years or even decades to produce the next generation of offspring. Even in the best of circumstances - using microbial colonies - only a handful of generations are produced each day and long-term evolution research takes great patience. Studying the evolution of other organisms from nature often requires interpreting information from incomplete data or fossil records. With digital organisms we can produce thousands of generations per hour while recording every detail of their evolution.
Avida: Darwinian evolution on a computer
Much of the work in the Devolab is centered on research with and the continued development of the Avida digital evolution research platform. In Avida, a population of self-replicating computer programs is subjected to external pressures (such as mutations and limited resources) and allowed to evolve subject to natural selection. This is not a mere simulation of evolution -- digital organisms in Avida evolve to survive in a complex computational environment and will adapt to perform entirely new traits in ways never expected by the researchers, some of which seem highly creative. Data about each individual is saved to track the fate of the population and analyzed to help answer our many research questions.
Avida-ED: Hands-on evolution for the classroom
One of the most rewarding things to do with faster evolution is to use it for teaching students principles of evolutionary biology. Avida-ED provides an easy-to-use graphical interface with the power of the Avida research platform underneath it. The Avida-ED Project puts an educational version of Avida together with supporting curricular materials for use in undergraduate biology lab courses. Using the evolutionary principles instantiated in the digital environment, students can learn about complex systems and their emergent properties. Guided exercises built around such inquiry-based experiments can also help students learn about the nature of scientific evidence and reasoning. We have assessed the effectiveness of this new technology in the classroom and disseminate the software and materials nationally.
Interested in joining the Devolab?
We are always looking for exceptional graduate students and postdocs. Click here for more information.
