# Self-replication
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** [[Cellular_automaton|cellular automaton]]
- **Microsimmability score:** 84/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Seed size`
- `Mutation rate`
- `Steps`
### What animates
A seed pattern copies itself across the grid as the replication rules are tuned.
### Learning objective
Show how a configuration can encode and reproduce itself.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Self-replication.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Abiogenesis` · [[Aluminium]] · `Animal` · `Apicoplast` · `Archaea` · `Armageddon` · `Artificial_cell` · [[Artificial_life]] · `Astrochicken` · `Autocatalytic_set` · `Autophagy` · [[Autopoiesis]] · `Autotroph` · `Avsunviroidae` · `Bacteria` · `Bacteriome` · `Basalt` · `Biochemistry` · `Biological_dark_matter` · `Biology` · `Bloom_(novel)` · `Bootstrapping` · `Cancer_cell` · `Capital_(economics)` · `Casting` · `Cell_(biology)` · `Cell_division` · [[Chemistry]] · [[Chlorine]] · `Chloroplast` · `Chromoplast` · `Chromosome` · `Circular_chromosome` · `Clay` · `Clonally_transmissible_cancer` · `Coacervate` · `Colicin` · `Compiler` · [[Complex_system]] · `Computer_cluster` · [[Computer_science]] · `Computer_security` · `Computer_virus` · `Computer_worm` · `Concave_polygon` · `Congruence_(geometry)` · `Cosmid` · `Crystal` · `Crystal_growth` · `Crystallographic_defect` · `DNA` · `DNA_replication` · `DNA_transposon` · `DNA_virus` · `Defective_interfering_particle` · `Distributed_computing` · `Double-stranded_RNA_viruses` · `Douglas_Hofstadter` · [[Dynamical_system]] · `ELife` · `Earliest_known_life_forms` · `Electricity` · `Endogenous_retrovirus` · `Endogenous_viral_element` · `Endosymbiont` · `Eukaryote` · `Extrachromosomal_DNA` · `Factory` · `Foresight_Institute` · `Fosmid` · `Fungal_prion` · `Fungus` · `Gene` · `Gene_duplication` · `Genetic_variation` · `Genome` · `Genomic_island` · `Genotype` · [[Geometry]] · `Gerontoplast` · `Giant_virus` · `Group_II_intron` · `Group_I_catalytic_intron` · `Gödel,_Escher,_Bach` · `HeLa` · `Helper_dependent_virus` · `Helper_virus` · `Horizontal_gene_transfer` · `Hydrogenosome` · `In_vitro` · `Incertae_sedis` · `Intel` · `Interspersed_repeat` · `Jeewanu` · [[John_von_Neumann]] · `Kappa_organism` · `Last_universal_common_ancestor` · `Lattice_(group)` · `Lee_Sallows` · `Lego` · `Leucoplast` · `Life` · `Linear_chromosome` · `Mass_production` · `Meme` · `Memetics` · `Mitochondria` · `Mitosome` · `Mobile_agent` · `Mobile_genetic_elements` · `Mobilome` · `Model_lipid_bilayer` · `Molding_(process)` · `Molecular_machine` · `Molecular_nanotechnology` · `Mutation` · `NASA` · `Nanobacterium` · `Nanotechnology` · `Natural_selection` · `Non-cellular_life` · `Non-coding_DNA` · `Nucleic_acid` · `Organism` · `Origin_of_replication` · `Oven` · `Parakaryon` · `Parallel_computing` · `Pentagon` · `Phagemid` · `Phenotype` · `Plant` · `Plasmid` · `Plaster` · `Plastid` · `Polynucleotide` · [[Population_dynamics]] · `Pospiviroidae` · `Prey_(novel)` · `Prion` · `Prophage` · `Protein_biosynthesis` · `Proteinoid` · `Protist` · `Protocell` · `Provirus` · `Python_(programming_language)` · `Quine_(computing)` · [[Quorum_sensing]] · `RNA` · `RNA-dependent_RNA_polymerase` · `RNA_virus` · `RNA_world` · `Ralph_Merkle` · [[Regolith]] · `RepRap` · `Repeated_sequence_(DNA)` · `Replicon_(genetics)` · `Reproduction` · `Retrotransposon` · `Retrovirus` · `Retrozyme` · `Ribosome` · `Ribozyme` · `Richard_Dawkins` · `Robert_Freitas` · `Robot` · [[Robotics]] · `Satellite_(biology)` · `SciTech_(magazine)` · `Science_fiction` · `Secondary_chromosome` · `Self-assembly` · `Self-replicating_machine` · `Self-replicating_spacecraft` · `Self-similarity` · `Self-tiling_tile_set` · `Solar_cell` · `Solomon_W._Golomb` · `Source_code` · `Space_manufacturing` · `Sphinx_tiling` · `SpudCell` · `Sulphobes` · `Synthetic_virology` · `Systems_chemistry` · `Tandem_repeat` · [[Tessellation]] · `The_Selfish_Gene` · `Ti_plasmid` · `Transposable_element` · `Transpoviron` · `Trophosome` · `Viral_replication` · `Viral_vector` · `Viroid` · `Virome` · `Virophage` · `Virulence_factor` · `Virus` · `Virusoid` · `Von_Neumann_universal_constructor` · [[Wayback_Machine]]
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Thinking · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replication)
> Relation: subfield of systems thinking.
## Concept summary
Self-replication is any behavior of a [[Dynamical_system|dynamical system]] that yields construction of an identical or similar copy of itself. Biological cells, given suitable environments, reproduce by cell division.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems thinking)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Self-replication
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render cellular automaton; respond live.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Thinking · Wikipedia: [Self-replication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replication)
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (3):** 🟡 system (12) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 encoding (2)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
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## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-replication) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Self-replication)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Cellular_automaton]] · [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
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*Sources: 2 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*