this is the fragment shader:

uniform sampler2D Tex0;
uniform vec2 resolution;
uniform int lCell_1;
uniform int lCell_2;
uniform int lCell_3;
uniform int lCell_4;
uniform int lCell_5;
uniform int lCell_6;
uniform int lCell_7;
uniform int lCell_8;
uniform int dCell_1;
uniform int dCell_2;
uniform int dCell_3;
uniform int dCell_4;
uniform int dCell_5;
uniform int dCell_6;
uniform int dCell_7;
uniform int dCell_8;

int get(int x, int y) {
    return int(texture2D(Tex0, (gl_FragCoord.xy + vec2(x, y)) / resolution).r);
}

void main() {
    int sum = get(-1, -1) +
              get(-1,  0) +
              get(-1,  1) +
              get( 0, -1) +
              get( 0,  1) +
              get( 1, -1) +
              get( 1,  0) +
              get( 1,  1);
    int state = get(0, 0);
    if (sum == lCell_1 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_2 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_3 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_4 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_5 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_6 && state == 0 ||
        sum == lCell_7 && state == 0 || 
        sum == lCell_8 && state == 0) { 
        gl_FragColor = vec4(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);   
    } else if (sum == dCell_1 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_2 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_3 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_4 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_5 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_6 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_7 && state == 1 || 
               sum == dCell_8 && state == 1 ) {       
        gl_FragColor = vec4(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
    } else {
        gl_FragColor = vec4(1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
    }
}

also useful as a visual noise generator

a.fboCells:getTexture():setTextureWrap(GL_REPEAT, GL_REPEAT);

gol_shader_v003.zip

next step would be something like this (which is made with visions of chaos: https://softology.com.au/voc.htm):

// fragment shader
#version 120

uniform sampler2D Tex0;
uniform vec2 resolution;
uniform float lCell_0;
uniform float lCell_1;
uniform float lCell_2;
uniform float lCell_3;
uniform float lCell_4;
uniform float lCell_5;
uniform float lCell_6;
uniform float lCell_7;
uniform float lCell_8;
uniform float dCell_0;
uniform float dCell_1;
uniform float dCell_2;
uniform float dCell_3;
uniform float dCell_4;
uniform float dCell_5;
uniform float dCell_6;
uniform float dCell_7;
uniform float dCell_8;

vec2 rule[9] = vec2[9](
    vec2(lCell_0, dCell_0),
    vec2(lCell_1, dCell_1),
    vec2(lCell_2, dCell_2),
    vec2(lCell_3, dCell_3),
    vec2(lCell_4, dCell_4),
    vec2(lCell_5, dCell_5),
    vec2(lCell_6, dCell_6),
    vec2(lCell_7, dCell_7),
    vec2(lCell_8, dCell_8)
);

int get(int x, int y) {
    return int(texture2D(Tex0, (gl_FragCoord.xy + vec2(x, y)) / resolution).a);
}

void main() {
    int sum = 
    get(-1, -1) +
    get(-1,  0) +
    get(-1,  1) +
    get( 0, -1) +
    get( 0,  1) +
    get( 1, -1) +
    get( 1,  0) +
    get( 1,  1);
    vec2 r = rule[sum];
    if (get(0, 0) == 1) {
        gl_FragColor = vec4(0., 0., 0., r.x);
    }
        else  {
            gl_FragColor = vec4(0., 0., 0., r.y);
        }
}

the current version is on my github page...
https://github.com/Jonathhhan/PDGameofLife-shaderVersion-