EVOEVO · Evolution of evolvable systems

This proposal investigates the origin of three evolvable systems in biological evolution. The first pillar deals with early evolution/origin of life. It is the heaviest part of the proposal, with a strong experimental participation of a co-PI. We shall invetiage how genes, metabolism and membranes could have evolved to yield the first living cells. Intermediate stages will be proposed, modelled and when possible experimentally tested by a combination of molecular biology, in vitro compartmentation and microfluidics. The second pillar theoretically investigates the origin of the adaptive immune system as a within-organism evolvable system. The third pillar investigates how informational replication and natural selection could be rendered within evolved brains, in order to better understand how reinforcement learning, insight and language emergence work durig individual development.""