《生命科学》 2026, 38(2): 397-411
数字生命的演进历程及发展态势
摘 要：
数字生命代表了生命科学与数字技术交织的前沿领域，其核心在于构建跨越层级与时空的数字孪生体，以此揭示生物系统的涌现规律及动态交互机制。本文通过梳理数字生命从理论假说到工程实现的演化历程，阐明了其推动生命科学研究从被动“观测描述”向主动“预测设计”跨越的内在逻辑。本文重点分析了支撑这一范式变革的技术支柱，包括基于高通量与超分辨成像的数据获取、利用大模型解析生物特征的解码技术、强调干湿闭环验证的活动模拟，以及最终集成的生命数字孪生系统。目前，随着人工智能虚拟细胞、数字器官及数字线虫等全生物体模型的问世，通过计算手段预测并精准调控生命行为已初步成为现实。然而，针对多源异构数据整合难、跨尺度模型解释性弱及伦理治理滞后等瓶颈，未来亟需深化对生命涌现机制的理论认知，开发内嵌生物物理约束的新型架构，并建立标准化的协作与治理体系，从而真正实现对生命全景的解析与重构。
通讯作者：陈大明 , Email:chendaming@sinh.ac.cn
Abstract:
Digital life, as a cutting-edge interdisciplinary field integrating life sciences and digital technologies, has become a pivotal research direction driving the paradigm shift of life science research. This paper aims to systematically trace the evolutionary trajectory of digital life from theoretical hypothesis to engineering implementation, deeply dissect its core technical system and current development status, identify the key bottlenecks restricting its in-depth development, and propose targeted development strategies and future prospects, thereby providing a comprehensive reference for academic research, industrial transformation and the construction of governance systems in this field. The study first combs the multi-stage development process of digital life: starting with von Neumann′s self-replicating automaton theory that laid the theoretical foundation of artificial life, it has experienced the stage of large-scale accumulation of life omics data driven by high-throughput sequencing and super-resolution imaging technologies, the stage of breakthroughs in biological feature decoding relying on synthetic biology and artificial intelligence (AI) models such as AlphaFold, and then entered the stage of practical application of digital twin technology, with the birth of a series of whole-organism models including AI virtual cells, digital organs, intelligent nematode ″Tianbao 1.0″, virtual rats and digital fruit flies. On this basis, the paper elaborates the four core technical pillars supporting the development of digital life: life data acquisition with high-throughput, ultra-high resolution and multi-modal characteristics, life feature decoding empowered by large models such as transformers and graph neural networks, life activity simulation emphasizing wet-dry closed-loop validation and multi-scale model iteration, and the integrated life digital twin system that realizes dynamic coupling between virtual and real entities. It also reveals the core connotation of digital life research in realizing the in-depth integration of spatial, temporal and logical dimensions, and constructing a digital system that conforms to the laws of real life and has controllability. In the research, it is found that digital life is currently in a critical period from concept verification to system engineering, and is facing prominent bottlenecks such as difficulty in integrating multi-source heterogeneous data, weak interpretability of cross-scale models, insufficient understanding of the dynamic causality of life systems, lagging ethical governance systems, and barriers in interdisciplinary collaborative innovation. In response to these problems, this paper holds that the future development of digital life should follow the progressive evolution path of ″division-conjunction-integration″. It is imperative to further deepen the theoretical
understanding of the emergent mechanisms of life systems, develop new AI architectures embedded with biophysical constraints to improve the interpretability and predictability of models, establish standardized data platforms and model interfaces to break interdisciplinary barriers and promote open-source collaboration, and construct a comprehensive governance system covering intellectual property protection, ethical review and safety supervision. Only by overcoming the above technical and institutional bottlenecks can we truly realize the comprehensive parsing and reconstruction of the life panorama, promote the mature application of digital life in precision medicine, drug research and development, molecular engineering and other fields, and make digital life an important scientific infrastructure for revealing the mysteries of life and safeguarding human health.
Communication Author：CHEN Da-Ming , Email:chendaming@sinh.ac.cn
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