Swarm is a large number of insects or other small organisms, especially when in motion.
Gene is a hereditary unit consisting of a sequence of DNA that occupies a specific location on a chromosome and determines a particular characteristic in an organism.
I think he is asking about the A.I. concepts which are metaphors for the gene and swarm.
Genetic Algorythms use evolutionary processes to refine programs.
Swarms are a Multi-agent concept that uses simple social rules to create emergent behavior in much the same way that a single insect within a swarm follows instincts, and the swarm acts collectively in an emergent manner as a result.
In both cases you are talking about a population of program snippets, in the genetic algorythm these mutate and recombine, and in the Swarm they interact each as if it was driven by its own rulebase.
To understand either you have to shift from thinking about the snippet as an individual program to thinking about the population of snippets. This population thinking if you can achieve it, will make evolution seem more real to you, and will help with concurrency in programs.
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