Journal
NATURE REVIEWS GENETICS
Volume 12, Issue 3, Pages 193-203Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nrg2903
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Funding
- European Research Council [242670]
- European Research Council (ERC) [242670] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
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It is often assumed that molecular systems are designed to maximize the competitive ability of the organism that carries them. In reality, natural selection acts on both cooperative and competitive phenotypes, across multiple scales of biological organization. Here I ask how the potential for social effects in evolution has influenced molecular systems. I discuss a range of phenotypes, from the selfish genetic elements that disrupt genomes, through metabolism, multicellularity and cancer, to behaviour and the organization of animal societies. I argue that the balance between cooperative and competitive evolution has shaped both form and function at the molecular scale.
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