Sipper M
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Logic Systems Laboratory IN-Ecublens Lausanne CH-1015 CH.
Artif Life. 1998 Summer;4(3):237-57. doi: 10.1162/106454698568576.
The study of self-replicating structures or machines has been taking place now for almost half a century. My goal in this article is to present an overview of research carried out in the domain of self-replication over the past 50 years, starting from von Neumann's work in the late 1940s and continuing to the most recent research efforts. I shall concentrate on computational models, that is, ones that have been studied from a computer science point of view, be it theoretical or experimental. The systems are divided into four major classes, according to the model on which they are based: cellular automata, computer programs, strings (or strands), or an altogether different approach. With the advent of new materials, such as synthetic molecules and nanomachines, it is quite possible that we shall see this somewhat theoretical domain of study producing practical, real-world applications.
对自我复制结构或机器的研究已经进行了近半个世纪。我撰写本文的目的是概述过去50年里在自我复制领域开展的研究，从20世纪40年代末冯·诺依曼的工作开始，一直延续到最近的研究成果。我将专注于计算模型，即从计算机科学角度进行研究的模型，无论是理论性的还是实验性的。根据其基于的模型，这些系统可分为四大类：细胞自动机、计算机程序、字符串（或链），或者是一种完全不同的方法。随着合成分子和纳米机器等新材料的出现，我们很有可能看到这个有点理论性的研究领域产生实际的、现实世界的应用。
