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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks
08:51

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Published on: May 13, 2016

Multilevel and kin selection in a connected world.

Michael J Wade1, David S Wilson, Charles Goodnight

  • 1Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA. mjwade@indiana.edu

Nature
|February 19, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Reduced virulence in parasites evolves due to opposing within-group and among-group selection pressures. This finding challenges the view that evolution is solely driven by individual-level adaptation, highlighting the importance of multilevel selection in evolutionary biology.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Theoretical biology
  • Parasitology

Background:

  • The evolution of reduced virulence in parasites is debated, with some researchers favoring inclusive fitness and others multilevel selection.
  • Wild et al. proposed that reduced virulence is an individual-level adaptation, negating the need for group selection.
  • Inclusive fitness and multilevel selection models are mathematically equivalent but offer different conceptual frameworks.

Discussion:

  • This study demonstrates that the model proposed by Wild et al. is a specific instance of general multilevel selection theory.
  • The evolution of reduced virulence is attributed to the conflict between selection acting within parasite groups and selection acting among parasite groups.
  • This work addresses the ongoing controversy regarding the levels at which natural selection operates.

Key Insights:

  • Reduced virulence is fundamentally driven by the interplay of within-group and among-group selection.
  • The individual-level adaptation perspective is a special case within a broader multilevel selection framework.
  • Evolutionary dynamics necessitate considering selection across multiple hierarchical levels.

Outlook:

  • Further research can explore the empirical evidence for within-group and among-group selection in various parasitic systems.
  • This framework can be applied to understand other evolutionary phenomena previously explained solely by individual or gene-level selection.
  • Clarifying the role of multilevel selection can refine our understanding of adaptation and evolution in complex biological systems.