Genotype–phenotype mapping: genes as computer programs

The effects of genes on phenotype are mediated by processes that are typically unknown but whose determination is desirable. The conversion from gene to phenotype is not a simple function of individual genes, but involves the complex interactions of many genes; it is what is known as a nonlinear mapping problem. A computational method called genetic programming allows the representation of candidate nonlinear mappings in several possible trees. To find the best model, the trees are 'evolved' by processes akin to mutation and recombination, and the trees that more closely represent the actual data are preferentially selected. The result is an improved tree of rules that represent the nonlinear mapping directly. In this way, the encoding of cellular and higher-order activities by genes is seen as directly analogous to computer programs. This analogy is of utility in biological genetics and in problems of genotype-phenotype mapping.