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• Paul Ryan

Paul's research attempts to uncover generalities among the many diverse examples of the evolution of biological individuality. Often taken for granted, biological individuality is itself the product of evolutionary processes and explaining it is one of the main tasks of the Major Transitions in Evolution research programme in theoretical biology.

It is well known that the biological world has a hierarchical structure. For example, eukaryotic cells are composed of components parts which were once independent entities (mitochondria, chloroplasts and so on). Some of those eukaryotic cells today exist as components of multi-cellular organisms. And some of those multi-cellular organisms exist as components of eusocial societies (many of which bear characteristics of individuals). Each of these levels in the hierarchy was once the top level but evolution has brought about transitions in the level of biological individuality over time. Examples of the evolution of new levels of biological individuality include:

• the evolution of eusociality among insects with social (but non-eusocial) ancestors

• the evolution of complex multi-cellularity in the volvocine algae

• the evolution of simple multi-cellularity in the cellular slime moulds

• the evolution of multi-cellular individuals in animals, plants and fungi (all of which were previously non-colonial free-living single-celled entities)

All of these processes are, we speculate, phenomena in which like-kinds come together and 'cooperate' (in the game-theoretic sense) in some collective task, for their (initially individual) reproductive benefit. Authors in the Major Transitions tradition usually assume that such a process necessarily involves a social dilemma (again, in the game-theoretic sense) in that selfish entities within a nascent collective can 'cheat' by producing less public goods or consuming more public goods (including reproduction) than their neighbours, so undermining the collective's viability. Furthermore, we speculate that many of the ubiquitous characteristics of life we see today (such as the existence of a single-celled stage in the lifecycle, fair meiosis, germ/soma separation, specialisation and division of labour among somatic cell lineages) are evolutionary adaptations which have the effect of ameliorating or overcoming this social dilemma, preventing the Tragedy of the Commons and enabling (some would say causing) the transition to a new level of individuality.

Paul's work seeks to use simulation models of evolutionary processes, particularly with regard to germ-line sequestration, to test these speculative hypotheses.

Paul is also interested in the explanatory status of simulation models in science, particularly the light they can shed on questions of reduction and emergence.

His other web page is http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/par1g10

Working with...

Richard Watson Senior Lecturer, Electronics and Computer Science (FPAS)

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