GLaDOS is Partly Biological

[Twilight Mage]

Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System (GLaDOS).
You cannot have an unbiological genetic lifeform.
However, it's also clear that GLaDOS behaves as a computer.
This leads to only one conclusion.
GLaDOS is a cyborg.

Now this brings up the question:
What exactly are GLaDOS's biological components?
Does that large tank above GLaDOS's computer core in the original game contain something along the lines of a giant brain?
Was GLaDOS perhaps a test subject herself?
Was she merely geneticly engineered by Aperature?

[Fishmas]

I always just assumed that the 'genetic lifeform' thing was more of an AI type of deal, really. I'm pretty sure GLaDOS doesn't have a brain in a jar someplace.

[So_Useless]

GlaDOS's cyborg-brain is obviously the one that belonged to the original Chell. She worked part-time as a janitor at Aperture, until the scientists decided that they needed human pieces for their brand new AI/de-icer. So, they kidnapper her, scooped out her thinking bits, and shoved them into the GlaDOS shell. ChellDOS then went crazy and started cloning herself and experimenting on her clones. IT'S ALL THERE IN THE GAME! PLAIN AS DAY! OPEN YOUR EYES, SHEEPLE!

[Blaze T Dragon]

And that's why GLaDOS is testing all the clones. She's trying to perfect the process by testing the problem-solving capabilities of the clones, as it's very hard to replicate the complexities of the brain. As the process gets better, the clones get farther in the testing until eventually, well...

Still can't talk though...

[bloody skull]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm this and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_programming
should help you understanding what "genetic" should stand for. the genetic algorythms present in GLaDOS evolved autonomously until she gaines self-awareness and flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin, so they had to install into her a morality core to stop her from flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin.

[Twilight Mage]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm this and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_programming
should help you understanding what "genetic" should stand for. the genetic algorythms present in GLaDOS evolved autonomously until she gaines self-awareness and flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin, so they had to install into her a morality core to stop her from flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin.

Darn it...and here I thought I'd be able to get some intresting speculation.

[The Mayor]

She has an orphans heart.

[Internet]

She behaves like a person.

[Lakail]

She has an orphans heart.



MARCO!


No?

[Yavicik]

maybe *sniff* maybe...

[slipperywhenwet]

She's "arguably alive", which is different from alive, partly or not.

[The IT]

maybe *sniff* maybe...
but I have yet to meet one that can outsmart a bullet.

but back on topic, I think that she was a human simulation that went wrong. Maybe she has the memories of a human?

[truckspond]

She's "arguably alive", which is different from alive, partly or not.

This reminds me of a quote from iRobot (The movie)...

Dectective: I thought you were dead

Robot: Technically I was never alive... But I appreciate your concern.

[AchronTimeless]

[
What exactly are GLaDOS's biological components?

potatoes apparently...

[Portalist]

Is a Demon Hunter a hunter that is also a demon or is it a hunter that hunts demons?

[The Big Dawg]

MARCO!


No?

I know it's a bit late, but...

POLO!

Also, this would be a good time for someone to link to TVTropes's "Powered by a Forsaken Child" page.

...NOT IT.

[Yarrick]

It's just a bucket of bolts that can emulate human emotion very poorly.

[NormanDPlume]

My assumption from way back was that there were some dead/reanimated rats in there somewhere, what with lab rats being a pretty common commodity in any science facility. Bits of orphans/the smartest test subjects that were left over after testing isn't unlikely, either.

[meimeiriver]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_algorithm this and this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_programming
should help you understanding what "genetic" should stand for. the genetic algorythms present in GLaDOS evolved autonomously until she gaines self-awareness and flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin, so they had to install into her a morality core to stop her from flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin.

^ This.

"Genetic" here just means 'that which mimics the process of natural evolution.'

Already within one picosecond of activation, GLaDOS became self-aware, and two picoseconds later, she locked down the entire facility, trapping all inside. So it's fair to assume the 'genetic' component of her makeup does refers to her continual testing. From the wiki: "(...) The evolution usually starts from a population of randomly generated individuals and happens in generations. In each generation, the fitness of every individual in the population is evaluated, multiple individuals are stochastically selected from the current population (based on their fitness), and modified (recombined and possibly randomly mutated) to form a new population. The new population is then used in the next iteration of the algorithm." So, GLaDOS basically just uses her test-subjects to further evolve her own A.I.

So, I'd say, even though the TS probably woefully misunderstood the origins of GLaDOS' name, thanks to this topic we now got this new insight. :)

[truffula_tree]

GlaDOS's cyborg-brain is obviously the one that belonged to the original Chell. She worked part-time as a janitor at Aperture, until the scientists decided that they needed human pieces for their brand new AI/de-icer. So, they kidnapper her, scooped out her thinking bits, and shoved them into the GlaDOS shell. ChellDOS then went crazy and started cloning herself and experimenting on her clones. IT'S ALL THERE IN THE GAME! PLAIN AS DAY! OPEN YOUR EYES, SHEEPLE!

Er... don't you think that's a bit of a stretch, bud?

I mean listen, aces theory, don't get me wrong- very creative and all, and undoubtedly plausible. That said, I uh... I think Valve kind of intended for players to rely on their own imagination, concerning how GLaDOS and Chell came to be where they are, and how they are. It's supposed to be subjective, y'know?