Fig 1. Schematic representation of the different components of our evolution simulation computational framework.

At every time step in the simulation, the values of the sensors are converted by means of linear equations into a number (see Fig 2D). When this number matches the specific identity number of a particular gene product, there is an increase of its corresponding concentration level. The concentration level of all gene products determines the overall behavior of a DO, which is in turn defined by the set of possible actuators, each one encoded by its corresponding structural genes.