Positive mutations and mutation-dependent Verhulst factor in Penna ageing model

We modify twice the Penna model for biological ageing. First, we introduce back (good) mutations and a memory for them into the model. It allows us to observe an improvement of the species fitness over long-time scales as well as punctuated equilibrium. Second, we adopt a food/space competition factor that depends on the number of accumulated mutations in the individuals genomes, and get rid of the fixed limiting number of allowed mutations. Besides reproducing the main results of the standard model, we also observe a mortality maximum for the oldest old. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.