Clone wars simulator!
Introduction
As tissues age, cells acquire mutations. These mutations can give the cell a selective advantage, allowing it to persist or expand in the tissue. Alternatively they may put the cell at a disadvantage, or leave it unchanged.
Clones are cells that derive from a single ancestor. As cells are in constant competition and continually accrue mutations, clones may gain a mutation and colonize the tissue. This may however be shortlived, as new clones arise through mutation and drive back the original expanding clone. This process may repeat as the individual ages. Many cancers start growing in this background.
This is a simulator of mutations and aging in normal tissues that runs on a raspberry pi or pico and can be visualised with a unicornhat hd or unicorn pico pack. It can further be connected to external buttons to introduce mutations "live". Its based on the research my team has been doing on mutations, aging, and cancer.
Background research
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2018.08.017
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0230
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-0624-3
Code authorship
All code unless explicitly noted is written by Ben Hall, b.hall@ucl.ac.uk.
splash.py is adapted from an example in the @pimoroni repo https://github.com/pimoroni/unicorn-hat-hd