A precursor instance of morphogenetic engineering, embryomorphic engineering proposes an artificial reconstruction of biological morphogenesis. Inspired by “evo-devo” (see e.g. Kirschner & Gerhart 2005), it focuses on the causal and programmable link from genotype to phenotype at these two levels simultaneously, something needed in many emerging computational domains.

An embryomorphic model combines three key principles of multicellular biological development: chemical gradient diffusion (providing positional information to the agents), gene regulation (triggering their differentiation into types, thus patterning), and cell division (creating structural constraints, hence reshaping). Therefore, agents are guided by the genetic instructions they carry, which parametrize and modulate the fundamental laws of mechanical-like assembly and biochemical-like signaling that they obey.

Biological development is schematized by a multiscale and modular distributed process, which typically relies on an expanding lattice of cells (Fig. c and videos). Each cell contains a gene regulatory network (GRN), modeled as a feed-forward hierarchy of switches that can settle in various on/off expression states (Fig. a-b).

• Pattern formation dynamics: Local morphogen gradients (X, Y) provide positional information in input, which is integrated by each GRN to produce differential expression of identity genes (I, J, …) in output. Similarly to striping in the Drosophila embryo, the lattice becomes segmented into spatial domains of homogeneous genetic expression (one for each identity gene; Carroll et al. 2001) that resemble stained glass motifs (Fig. d).
• Self-assembly dynamics: Meanwhile, it also expands by cell proliferation, creating new local gradients of positional information within former single-identity domains (Fig. d, right). Analogous to a growing canvas that paints itself (Coen 2000), the alternation of growth and patterning results in the creation of a form.