Unnatural Histories: Investigating the Improbable with Experimental Evolution and Artificial Life
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
The study of life has traditionally focused on documenting and understanding what exists and what has existed — the actual rather than the possible. However, as François Jacob astutely observed, our scientific understanding is inherently shaped by the limitations of our collective imagination. It is only through confronting the vast landscape of what *could be* with what actually *is* that we begin to comprehend the fundamental principles governing living systems.
By leveraging modern tools from Experimental Evolution, Synthetic Biology, and Artificial Life, researchers can now empirically investigate paths not taken by natural evolution and gain concrete experimental insights rather than being limited to theoretical speculation. In this spirit, npj Complexity is launching a special collection on "Unnatural Histories". This collection will showcase research that goes beyond conventional natural history to examine alternative biological worlds and unexplored evolutionary trajectories.
We invite submissions that employ experimental and theoretical approaches to investigate life's alternative possibilities. Suitable topics include but are not limited to the reconstruction of ancient or alternative biochemistries, in silico artificial life studies, the exploration of expanded (or limited) genetic codes, and the creation of synthetic organisms that test the boundaries of biological organization. Through this collection, we aim to expand our understanding of both life as it is and life as it could be.
Editors
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Luis Zaman, PhD
University of Michigan, USA
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Miguel A. Fortuna, PhD
Doñana Biological Station (EBD), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain
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Jeffrey Barrick, PhD
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
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Lana Sinapayen, PhD
Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Japan / National Institute for Basic Biology, Japan
