Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology Georgetown University 37th and O St. NW Washington DC 20057 USA
2. Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences University of Groningen Nijenborgh 7 9747 AG Groningen The Netherlands
3. Department of Evolutionary Biology Uppsala University Norbyvägen 18D Uppsala 752 36 Sweden
4. Lerner Research Institute Cleveland Clinic Foundation 9500 Euclid Avenue Cleveland OH 44195 USA
Abstract
ABSTRACTThe paradox of the organism refers to the observation that organisms appear to function as coherent purposeful entities, despite the potential for within‐organismal components like selfish genetic elements and cancer cells to erode them from within. While it is commonly accepted that organisms may pursue fitness maximisation and can be thought to hold particular agendas, there is a growing recognition that genes and cells do so as well. This can lead to evolutionary conflicts between an organism and the parts that reside within it. Here, we revisit the paradox of the organism. We first outline its conception and relationship to debates about adaptation in evolutionary biology. Second, we review the ways selfish elements may exploit organisms, and the extent to which this threatens organismal integrity. To this end, we introduce a novel classification scheme that distinguishes between selfish elements that seek to distort transmission versus those that seek to distort phenotypic traits. Our classification scheme also highlights how some selfish elements elude a multi‐level selection decomposition using the Price equation. Third, we discuss how the organism can retain its status as the primary fitness‐maximising agent in the face of selfish elements. The success of selfish elements is often constrained by their strategy and further limited by a combination of fitness alignment and enforcement mechanisms controlled by the organism. Finally, we argue for the need for quantitative measures of both internal conflicts and organismality.
Funder
John Templeton Foundation
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Cited by
2 articles.
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1. Open questions in the social lives of viruses;Journal of Evolutionary Biology;2023-11-01
2. Conflict and conflict resolution in the major transitions;Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences;2023-10-11