Paul Davies in "The Demon in the Machine" has a wonderful description of Conway and the Game of Life
with application to genetics non-genetic evolution.
He talks about cellular automata and the "Game of Life". I know you and I were fascinated by Conroy's ideas. I thought, "well, why not have a game of life using non-square repeating patterns. Many others have thought that and taken it into vast realms - including Penrose fields.
https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/35827/implement-the-game-of-life-on-anything-but-a-regular-grid
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22134-first-gliders-navigate-ever-changing-penrose-universe/
Davies talks a lot about the demon involved in the molecular biology of the cell. I just saw this today and it dovetails nicely with his exposition.
https://www.ted.com/talks/janet_iwasa_the_wonders_of_the_molecular_world_animated
Biting the hand that feeds IT
