Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026
12:02
Molecular Evolution of the Tre Recombinase
Published on: May 29, 2008
10.1K
The evolution of individuality revisited
Arunas L Radzvilavicius1, Neil W Blackstone2
1Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, U.S.A.
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
|March 26, 2018
Summary
Biological individuality is an evolved trait, not an indivisible entity. Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms of individuation, from cellular life to multicellularity, reveals how biological complexity arises from lower-level selection.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Theoretical biology
- Origin of life studies
Background:
- Evolutionary theory traditionally focuses on heritable traits and selective pressures acting on individuals.
- Biological individuality is recognized as an emergent property, not a fundamental unit, requiring evolutionary processes to arise.
- Existing theories on biological individuality often emphasize cooperation, relatedness, and higher-level selection, but lack a dynamical first-principles account of emergence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the role of individuating mechanisms in the evolutionary transitions to new levels of biological individuality.
- To demonstrate a bottom-up, lower-level evolutionary framework for understanding the emergence of biological complexity.
- To reconceptualize biological individuality as an approximate model applicable across diverse biological systems.
Main Methods:
- Review of influential theoretical work on evolutionary transitions and individuation.
- Application of a lower-level, bottom-up evolutionary framework to key transitions.
- Analysis of environmental constraints, population structure, and ancestral life cycles influencing individuation.
Main Results:
- Individuating mechanisms, present from the earliest stages of transition under lower-level selection, are crucial for the emergence of individuality.
- This framework can explain biological complexity in transitions like the origin of cellular life, eukaryotic evolution, sexual reproduction, and multicellular development.
- Individuation mechanisms can arise from environmental factors or be specific adaptations for conflict mediation.
Conclusions:
- Biological individuality is an emergent, evolved trait shaped by lower-level selection and specific individuating mechanisms.
- A bottom-up evolutionary approach provides a dynamical account of how new types of individuals arise.
- Understanding individuation is key to comprehending the evolution of biological complexity and hierarchical organization.
Keywords:
conflict mediationendogenous coarse-grainingevolutionary transitionshierarchical transitionsindividualityindividuating mechanismsrenormalisationMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:55The Evidence for Evolution
48.4K
Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
48.4K
01:54Convergent Evolution
33.1K
Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.
33.1K
01:24Eukaryotic Evolution
42.4K
The endosymbiont theory is the most widely accepted theory of eukaryotic evolution; however, its progression is still somewhat debated. According to the nucleus-first hypothesis, the ancestral prokaryote first evolved a membrane to enclose DNA and form the nucleus. Conversely, the mitochondria-first hypothesis suggests that the nucleus was formed after endosymbiosis of mitochondria.
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
42.4K
02:31Synteny and Evolution
3.8K
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
3.8K
01:30Impact of Individuals on Individuals
403
Human behavior is intricately shaped by social influences that arise from interactions with others in diverse contexts. These influences not only mold beliefs and attitudes but also drive the regulation of behaviors through both direct communication and observational learning. The study of these processes falls within the domain of social psychology, which seeks to understand how individuals are affected by and affect those around them.Mechanisms of Social InfluenceDirect social influence...
403
03:21Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
9.2K
While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.
9.2K