I gave a talk on the 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 at Cambridge University @tlmcambridge.bsky.social. Our model predicts that this division evolves when relatedness is sufficiently low, contrary to textbook explanations. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMrN... #evolution #compbio

How did life’s template-catalyst division evolve? Fu and @nobuto.bsky.social show this can evolve without cells in 2D space through symmetry breaking. Evolution is driven by high diffusion rates, protecting against cheaters/parasites: academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

Our new modelling paper is out! It shows that Black Queen dynamics can accelerate the evolution of new gene functions by, say, 10-fold. Here is the idea: when gene products are shared btw cells, cheaters don't have to maintain their corresponding genes, which can freely explore sequence space.

My PhD student Dominic Devlin's first paper was published. We review recent work suggesting that germline-soma separation is widespread among metazoans beyond insects & vertebrates. Germline-soma separation is distinct from early germline segregation, although they are often conflated.