# Computational Biology > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] provides the evolutionary and computational context for this supporting concept. **Domain:** Biology / Computation **Doc Type:** Supporting Canonical Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition Computational biology uses algorithms, models and data systems to investigate biological structure, function, evolution and populations. ## Nexus Context Avida uses computation to test evolutionary principles, while AlphaFold uses machine learning to read evolutionary records. Both depend on explicit mappings between model and biological target. ## Relationships [[wiki/Avida|Avida]], [[wiki/AI for Science|AI for Science]], [[wiki/Comparative Genomics|Comparative Genomics]], [[wiki/Scientific Inference|Scientific Inference]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "Not only does the conviction that the brain is responsible for all of human experience not threaten human dignity; I believe it can actually increase it." > **— Michael McCullough**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/AI Control/A Mechanistic Brain Can Strengthen Human Dignity by Michael McCullough|A Mechanistic Brain Can Strengthen Human Dignity by Michael McCullough]] > "If you are a scientist, computers can help you extend your brainpower to create well beyond what was possible a few decades back." > **— Marcelo Gleiser**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Computers Extend Scientists’ Brainpower by Marcelo Gleiser|Computers Extend Scientists’ Brainpower by Marcelo Gleiser]] > "What we normally call thinking is obsessively "goal oriented." But is there a kind of goal serving no purpose—and can only a human brain latch onto such a perverse idea?" > **— Richard Foreman**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Goal-Free Thinking May Be Uniquely Human by Richard Foreman|Goal-Free Thinking May Be Uniquely Human by Richard Foreman]] > "Looking ahead, I could live with a partnership with machine learning in order to make complex modern life more resource-efficient in a way that human brains cannot." > **— Laurence C. Smith**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Machine Learning Could Make Modern Life More Efficient by Laurence C. Smith|Machine Learning Could Make Modern Life More Efficient by Laurence C. Smith]] > "Perhaps individual machines may never "think" in a way that resembles individual human consciousness as we understand it." > **— Rebecca MacKinnon**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Machines May Never Think Like Human Consciousness by Rebecca MacKinnon|Machines May Never Think Like Human Consciousness by Rebecca MacKinnon]] ## Sources / Provenance - Developed from the cited research in the central article and the surrounding continuity, rights and evolutionary architecture.