The Role of Stochasticity in the Evolution of Multicellularity
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics
Abstract
One of the most fundamental issues in evolutionary biology, and more recently in biological physics, is the nature of transitions from unicellular organisms to multicellular ones. Many questions arise about the fitness advantages of increase in size and cell number, as well as cellular specialization, and these are often addressable from physical points of view. Of particular interest is the fidelity with which uni- and multicellular organisms sense and respond to environmental signals such as chemical concentrations and light intensity. This thesis project will investigate theoretically and possibly experimentally how the processes inherent in multicellular organisms deal with the intrinsic stochasticity in the world around them.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Raymond Goldstein (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Anne Herrmann (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/N509620/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2022 | |||
| 1781742 | Studentship | EP/N509620/1 | 01/10/2016 | 30/09/2019 | Anne Herrmann |
| Description | In the project so far we have focussed on a particular process, called interkinetic nuclear migration (IKNM), taking place during the development of neural tissues. In the zebrafish retina we could show that IKNM can be modelled as a stochastic process when taking into account the geometric constraints arising from tissue architecture. |
| Exploitation Route | IKNM has been suggested to play a regulatory role during eye development, thus we expect that our findings will have important implications for elucidating this process further. |
| Sectors | Other |
| Description | Helen Stone Scholarship |
| Amount | £42,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Cambridge Commonwealth Trust |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2016 |
| End | 09/2019 |
| Description | IKNM project |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | In this project, I contributed to the data analysis and developed the theoretical model. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators performed the experimental work and part of the data analysis. |
| Impact | 10.1101/570606 |
| Start Year | 2017 |