Abiogenesis

Self-replicating programs emerge spontaneously from random byte soups through symbiogenesis.

No fitness function. No design. Just random bytes, a 7-instruction interpreter, and time.

Install

pip install abiogenesis

Quickstart

from abiogenesis import Soup, compression_ratio

soup = Soup(n_tapes=512, tape_len=64, max_steps=10_000, seed=42)
for step in range(100_000):
    soup.interact()
    if (step + 1) % 25_000 == 0:
        cr = compression_ratio(soup.get_state())
        print(f"step {step + 1:>7,}  compression={cr:.4f}")

step  25,000  compression=0.4892
step  50,000  compression=0.3575
step  75,000  compression=0.3044
step 100,000  compression=0.2872

Compression drops below 1.0 as structure self-organizes from noise.

How It Works

1. Random initialization — 1024 tapes of 64 random bytes each
2. Pairwise interaction — pick two tapes, concatenate into 128 bytes, execute as embodied BrainFuck, split back
3. Symbiogenesis — two partial programs fuse into working programs (the K-term)
4. Selection pressure — tapes that execute copy instructions replicate; others drift
5. Mutation (optional) — random bit-flips sustain ecology and prevent crystallization

The interpreter uses 7 instructions (> < + - . [ ]) on a unified code/data tape. The . instruction copies tape[DP] to tape[WP], providing the replication primitive. No fitness function — replication emerges from the physics.

Results

Phase Diagram

Mutation rate is the sole control parameter. Four regimes discovered across 10M-interaction runs:

Replicator Emergence

Three types of self-replicators emerge and are classified automatically:

Symbiogenesis Depth

Complexity builds on itself — each interaction layer adds depth to the lineage tree:

API

Examples

python examples/quickstart.py             # Basic soup run
python examples/replicator_detection.py   # Find and classify replicators
python examples/swarm_with_probes.py      # Agent swarm with provenance

Development

git clone https://github.com/dopexthrone/abiogenesis.git
cd abiogenesis
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/  # 92 tests

Citation

If you use this in research, please cite:

@software{roze2026abiogenesis,
  author = {Roze, Alex},
  title = {Abiogenesis: Self-Replicating Programs from Random Byte Soups},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/dopexthrone/abiogenesis}
}

License

MIT — see LICENSE.