Analysis of Mutation Trend of Influenza A Viruses Using a Computational Evolution Simulator

According to Darwinism, all species of organisms arise and develop through natural selection of inherited variations that are more able to compete, survive, and reproduce so as to adapt better to the change of environments. We propose an evolution simulator to analyze the evolution of influenza A viruses. From the simulated trajectories, we are able to observe and analyze every single hypothetical mutational step in evolution, which cannot be achieved easily from a phylogenetic tree. We expect the evolution simulator to provide insights into the adaptive variability of viral proteins, and present the potential of predicting prospective adaptation trends that warrant further investigation by biologists and doctors.