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Research
The evolution of complexity is a long-standing paradox in biology. From one point of view we perceive biological systems as parsimonious; from another, extravagant. My research aims to distinguish between the often juxtaposed active and passive perspectives on potential trends in the evolution of biological complexity (1,2), reframe the evolution of complexity as a set of iterative transitions in individuality ascending through levels of nested hierarchical organization using the constructive language of category theory (3,4), and define and distinguish among equivalence classes of environmental conditions selecting for the evolution of complexity in laboratory evolved microorganisms (5,6,7).
1. Gould, S. Full House: the spread of excellence from Plato to Darwin. (Three Rivers Press: 1997).
2. Carroll, S.B. Chance and necessity: the evolution of morphological complexity and diversity. Nature 409, 1102-9(2001).3. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
3. Mac Lane, S. Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics). 326(Springer: 1998).4. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
4. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
5. Elena, S.F. & Lenski, R.E. Evolution experiments with microorganisms: the dynamics and genetic bases of adaptation. Nature Reviews Genetics 4, 457-69(2003).
6. Buckling A, Craig Maclean R, Brockhurst MA, Colegrave N. The Beagle in a bottle. Nature 457, 824-9(2009).
7. Conrad, T.M., Lewis, N.E. & Palsson, B.Ø. Microbial laboratory evolution in the era of genome-scale science. Molecular Systems Biology 7, (2011).
1. Gould, S. Full House: the spread of excellence from Plato to Darwin. (Three Rivers Press: 1997).
2. Carroll, S.B. Chance and necessity: the evolution of morphological complexity and diversity. Nature 409, 1102-9(2001).3. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
3. Mac Lane, S. Categories for the Working Mathematician (Graduate Texts in Mathematics). 326(Springer: 1998).4. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
4. Buss, L.W. The evolution of individuality. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987).
5. Elena, S.F. & Lenski, R.E. Evolution experiments with microorganisms: the dynamics and genetic bases of adaptation. Nature Reviews Genetics 4, 457-69(2003).
6. Buckling A, Craig Maclean R, Brockhurst MA, Colegrave N. The Beagle in a bottle. Nature 457, 824-9(2009).
7. Conrad, T.M., Lewis, N.E. & Palsson, B.Ø. Microbial laboratory evolution in the era of genome-scale science. Molecular Systems Biology 7, (2011).
