Directing Morphogenetic Patterning in Biological and Artificial Systems through Spatial Re-Programming

The goal in this interdisciplinary synergy grant is to gain insights into biological pattern formation, by using computational models developed in the Creative AI lab and combine them with the biological models developed by Associate Professor Ala Trusina at the Niels Bohr Institute.

In more detail, we will train neural cellular automata, which are models of biological morphogenesis in simulated environments and compare the learned rules for patterning/regeneration with the ones inferred from biology. We expect the project will not only lead to novel insights into morphogenesis in nature but also allow us to create larger and more robust self-organizing artificial systems such as large-scale robot swarms, self-assembling robots, or self-healing materials.