Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System to Study Protein Homeostasis in a Multicellular Organism
Published on: December 18, 2013
Selection for synchronized cell division in simple multicellular organisms
Jason Olejarz1, Kamran Kaveh1, Carl Veller2
1Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
The evolution of multicellularity was a major transition in the history of life on earth. Conditions under which multicellularity is favored have been studied theoretically and experimentally. But since the construction of a multicellular organism requires multiple rounds of cell division, a natural question is whether these cell divisions should be synchronous or not. We study a population model in which there compete simple multicellular organisms that grow by either synchronous or asynchronous cell divisions. We demonstrate that natural selection can act differently on synchronous and asynchronous cell division, and we offer intuition for why these phenotypes are generally not neutral variants of each other.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Determining the Plane of Cell Division
Animal cells
In animal cells, the cleavage furrow forms along the plane of cell division...
Molecular Factors Affecting Cell Division
Several proteins function as internal regulators to ensure each cell cycle stage is completed faithfully before proceeding to the next. Regulator molecules may act directly or influence the activity or production of other...
Long Division of Polynomials
What is Natural Selection?
Cranial Part of Parasympathetic Division
The vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) alone accounts for approximately 75...
Functional Divisions of the Nervous System
The sensory division transmits information from sensory receptors in the body to the CNS. It provides the CNS with knowledge about somatic senses (such as tactile, thermal, pain, and proprioceptive sensations)...

