Evolution at work
Evolution is never finished. It is an ongoing process, and one which is increasingly subject to human influence. Research into evolution, too, repeatedly raises new questions. Since 2011, the Münster Graduate School of Evolution (MGSE), located on Hüfferstraße, has been bringing together the Faculties of Biology, Medicine, Geosciences, Mathematics and Philosophy, bundling interdisciplinary evolutionary research at the University of Münster. “The Humanities benefit for example from the findings made by the Life Sciences – while these gain, from research in the Humanities, a broader understanding of the different meanings of evolution,” explains biologist Prof. Joachim Kurtz, Director and founder of the MGSE. At the core of the Graduate School is a study programme for international PhD students: from the Evolution of the Earth to the Evolution of Evolutionary Theory. Four doctoral students – three women and one man – provide insights into their work and show the role which evolution specifically plays in their everyday research.
Of optimistic and pessimistic rats
Is the glass half-full or half-empty? This is a question which we can now ask animals using new test methods from animal welfare and emotion research. The reason is that some species have a tendency to make optimistic or pessimistic decisions. Just like humans, they are more optimistic when they are in a good mood. Nevertheless, some always remain more optimistic than others, irrespective of context. Such individual differences are called “animal personality” by biologists. This is a fascinating aspect of evolutionary research because it contrasts with the general assumption that natural selection works towards a certain behavioural optimum.
Alternating between practical work in the lab and carrying out and publishing subsequent data analysis ensures that my everyday research work is varied and fascinating. There is a special challenge involved in using the concept of personality – the definition of which in behavioural biology differs from that in other scientific disciplines. This is where I benefit from the interdisciplinary networking in the MGSE, which makes it possible to look at projects through the eyes of people working in different fields of research.
Health, diseases and evolution
In my research I’m looking at the limitations and the opportunities in mismatch arguments in evolutionary medicine. This sounds rather abstract, but it has one concrete connection: evolutionary medicine is a field of research which complements physiological explanations by adding deeper evolutionary ones. The question, then, is the general one of why we are susceptible to diseases – after all, diseases do not presumably provide their carriers any selective advantage.
In my research I benefit from the interdisciplinary networking in the MGSE: the behavioural biologist examines how mouse populations change under mismatch conditions. The empirical results are important for my project, even if I as a philosopher follow other questions. On the one hand I undertake research from a scientific perspective into the burden of proof that has to be produced in order for a mismatch hypothesis to be considered to be justified. On the other hand, I examine the normative conclusions which often go hand in hand with the problem diagnosis of a mismatch, but which cannot be derived completely from the empirical results. Although there is some scepticism among philosophers as regards the potential for applications of mismatch explanations in medical contexts, I hope that I can also demonstrate their potential.
New proteins from random sequences
The chimpanzee is our closest relative, with 96 to 99 percent of our genetic material being completely the same. So how can it be that different species can nevertheless evolve? One possible explanation lies in the evolution of new proteins – which I am taking a closer look at in my project. Many new proteins arise by reusing already existing proteins. However, new proteins can also be formed by previously inactive regions of the genome being activated which results in completely new protein sequences. Experts call this protein emergence „from scratch“ de novo evolution.
In the early days of molecular biology, it was considered impossible for completely new proteins to arise through a random association of amino acids without being based on existing proteins. Nowadays we know that this de novo emergence of proteins is not only possible but actually happens more often than previously thought. But how can these random protein sequences have a function when they have not been shaped by evolution? It is often assumed that millions of years of evolution have been involved – which is also true in many cases; but sometimes it does seem to be just random.
In order to examine these de novo proteins, I work both in the lab and at the computer. First of all, I characterise the proteins by means of experiments, then I evaluate the results and compare them with the original hypotheses and, if necessary, with computer-based predictions. Within the MSGE we present our results regularly in front of an interdisciplinary audience and are given constructive criticism.
Beetles influence their environment
I am working on evidence for the theory that niche construction, i.e. the effects that species have on their environment, influences evolution. So far, organisms were as a rule considered to be largely passive elements which react to changes in their environment – and my aim is to disprove this assumption by empirical means. Using the example of the flour beetle, I am investigating how organisms actively change their surroundings through their activities, their metabolism and their decisions, and how this can in turn influence their own evolutionary paths. For example, the development of immunity to diseases can not only have an effect on the organism itself, but also on members of the same species – and even on other species – and have an effect on the eco-evolutionary dynamic between hosts and parasites. Such findings could broaden our understanding of the evolutionary processes, as well as driving co-existence and the formation of species – and could even have important consequences for medicine.
The theory of niche construction offers new insights into the mechanisms of evolution and underlines how organisms actively change their surroundings and, as a result, shape their own evolutionary path. This is consistent with my personal conviction that we have more power to shape our own future than just being determined by external factors and our inherited characteristics. The development of new methods makes it possible to produce the first empirical evidence for the significance of niche construction in evolution; normally the process takes decades or centuries. Through the use of experimental evolution in combination with an analysis of genetic changes, we can now test the predictions of the theory and follow developments in real time. The interdisciplinary exchanges of views at the MSGE with philosophers and mathematicians on key notions such as “niche” and “fitness” make concepts much clearer and supply a solid theoretical framework for my study.
This article is from the university newspaper wissen|leben No. 4, 12. June 2024.