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In the Light of Evolution I: Adaptation and Complex Design
Organized by John C. Avise and Francisco J. Ayala, this meeting was held at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, CA on December 1-2, 2006.
Meeting Overview
Darwin’s elucidation of natural selection was one of the great intellectual achievements in the history of science, revolutionizing thought not only in biology but also in philosophical and ideological realms. No longer were explanations for the origin and marvelous adaptations of organisms to be sought in terms of supernatural or extranatural causation. A century-and-a-half after Darwin, the challenge of understanding nature’s complex design remains in many regards in its infancy. For example, only recently has it become possible to conduct whole-genome analyses in ways that may permit the discovery of heretofore unspecified structural and regulatory genes contributing to the molecular assembly of complex organismal phenotypes. Scientific progress is occurring on many empirical and conceptual fronts. New discoveries in paleontology and developmental biology have significantly improved our understanding of the intermediate stages of seemingly complex evolutionary transitions. Recent developments in evolutionary genetic theory, such as formal network analysis, have opened exciting new avenues for exploring the geneses and maintenance of biological complexity at the levels of genetic and metabolic pathways.
Scientific advances are coming at a time of resurgent societal interest in supernatural explanations for biological complexity. The goal of the colloquium is to synthesize recent empirical findings and conceptual approaches towards understanding the evolutionary origins and maintenance of complex adaptations.
To view presentations, click on the title. A link to each speaker's website is available by clicking the speaker's name.
Friday, Dec 1, 2006
Session I: Complexity and Improbability
8:50 AM Introduction and Chair, John C. Avise (University of California, Irvine)
9:00 AM Biological Design in Science Classrooms and the Public Arena (Eugenie C. Scott, National Center for Science Education, Berkeley, CA)
9:50 AM Origins of Biological Complexity and Order (Robert M. Hazen, Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, DC and George Mason University)
11:00 AM Symbiosis as a Source of Complexity in Organisms (Nancy A. Moran, University of Arizona, Tucson)
11:50 AM Insect Societies as Divided Organisms: the Complexities of Purpose and Cross-purpose (Joan E. Strassmann, Rice University)
Session II: Evolutionary Transitions in Organismal Design
Chair Nancy A. Moran (University of Arizona, Tucson)
1:50 PM The Origin of Life and the Emergence of Darwinian Evolution (Jack W. Szostak, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston)
2:40 PM Cooperation and Conflict: Multicellularity (Richard E. Michod, University of Arizona, Tucson)
3:50 PM Systems Biology Meets Population Genetics (Andrew G. Clark, Cornell University)
4:40 PM Plant Domestication, a Unique Opportunity to Identify the Genetic Basis of Adaptation (Brandon Gaut, University of California, Irvine)
Banquet Lecture
7:30 PM Introduction (John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine)
7:40 PM Design without Designer (Francisco Ayala, University of California, Irvine)
Saturday, Dec 2, 2006
Session III. Developmental Patterns and Genetic Controls
Chair Joan E. Strassmann (Rice University)
8:00 AM Developmental Compartments and Complex Body Plans (Sean B. Carroll, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison)
8:50 AM Gene Hierarchies and Gene Circuits (Adam Wilkins, Editor, BioEssays, Cambridge, UK)
10:00 AM The Theory of Faciliated Variation (John C. Gerhart, University of California, Berkeley)
10:50 AM Complexity Myths (Michael Lynch, Indiana University, Bloomington)
Session IV Case Studies in Adaptive Evolution
Chair Francisco J. Ayala (University of California, Irvine)
12:50 PM The Evolution of Eye Development (Adriana Briscoe, University of California, Irvine)
1:40 PM Adaptation and Trade-Off (Albert Bennett, University of California, Irvine)
2:50 PM On the Origin and Evolutionary Diversification of Beetle Horns (Douglas J. Emlen, University of Montana, Missoula)
3:40 PM Routes to Functional Adaptation (Cynthia M. Beall, Case Western Reserve University)
4:30 PM Concluding Remarks (Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine)
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