Our mission
We are a group of theoreticians who study the evolution of genes, genetics, and organisms. The through line in all of our work is evolutionary conflict.
We are a group of theoreticians who study the evolution of genes, genetics, and organisms. The through line in all of our work is evolutionary conflict.
Intragenomic conflictsAll genes are expected to appear as though striving to leave replicas of themselves in future generations, but not all genes in the genome have the same intermediate goals to achieve this. When genes within the same genome have conflicting strategies for maximizing their fitness, evolution of genes and genetic systems may ensue. We're especially interested in conflicts involving the sex chromosomes and imprinted genes.
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Intraorganismic conflictsMuch as the various genes within a genotype may come into conflict, so too can the cells and tissues of a body disagree over the optimal design of the organism. We have become interested in chimeric organisms and what they can teach us about the evolution of organismal form and function.
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Internal conflict in collective agentsWe're interested in modeling how natural objects come by their agency—i.e., the property of having goals and interests and strategies to pursue them—and also how they come to lose it. More specifically, we're interested in how selfish genetic elements and selfish cell lineages might threaten our understanding of agency in organisms and how analogous threats apply to economic firms. This is an ongoing collaborative project with Arvid Ågren (Cleveland Clinic), Armin Schulz (University of Kansas), and Martijn Schenkel (University of Groningen).
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