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SMALL STEPS TO COMPLEXITY. "The evolution of life on earth has been driven by a small number of major evolutionary transitions. These transitions have been characterized by individuals that could previously replicate independently, cooperating to form a new, more complex life form." https://lnkd.in/eia5GWQ View in LinkedIn

ANALOGOUS SYSTEMS. "With the rise of synthetic biology, evolutionary robotics, artificial life and advanced simulations, novel perspectives to these problems have led to a rather interesting scenario, where not only the major transitions can be studied or even reproduced, but even new ones might be potentially identified. In both cases, transitions can be understood in terms of phase transitions, as defined in physics." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

NEW THINKING. "Synthetic transitions: towards a new synthesis. We can create a new multi-cellular system by engineering new cell–cell signals on single cells. Similarly, a proto-grammar can emerge in a group of interacting, evolvable robots. These are synthetic transitions that are not necessarily related to standard evolutionary paths, but they do involve ways to generate major innovations starting from simpler systems." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

TRANSITION POINT. "The bifunctionality of Rubisco as both a photosynthetic enzyme and a reserve of mobilizable N is reflected in the dual role of foliage: leaves are organs of storage as well as assimilation, and the initiation of senescence may be considered to be the point of transition from C to N source." https://lnkd.in/dPac2Jv View in LinkedIn

BIOLOGICAL EMERGENCE. "The emergence of life, the genetic code, complex cells, multicellular organisms and language are some of the best-known examples. They all involve a novel class of organization with high-order properties not reducible to the properties of the lower-scale units." https://lnkd.in/d94S2CY View in LinkedIn

SINK-SOURCE CHATTER. "Senescence is responsive to communication between sources and sinks in which sugar signalling and hormonal regulation play central roles. Monocarpy and polycarpy represent contrasting outcomes of the balance between the determinacy of apical meristems and source–sink cross-talk. Even extremely long-lived perennials sustain a high degree of meristem integrity." https://lnkd.in/dPac2Jv View in LinkedIn

UPDATING DARWINISM. "The world's top biologists have met to discuss whether we should update evolution" "Bringing Darwin's theory into the 21st century." http://www.sciencealert.com/the-world-s-top-biologists-have-met-to-discuss-whether-we-should-update-evolution View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this peek at falling leaves. The numerous variables that plants assess each autumn all go into the calculation of which date to start and to end the process of dropping the leaves. Each plant does its own mathematics. But what really is impressive is that while the dates of start and end vary each year, the species synchronization in that large habitat does not, and the autumnal march is invariably orderly. Not a single research paper can touch this hugely complex subject. View in LinkedIn

CALCULATED VARIABLES. "Leaf senescence is basically governed by the developmental age. However, it is also influenced by various internal and environmental signals that are integrated into the age information." https://lnkd.in/dj6JXRP View in LinkedIn

DATA CONSIDERED. "Leaf senescence initiation is affected by many such factors, such as the age of the plant, plant hormones, ROS, transcription factors, protein kinases, nutrient limitation, and drought." https://lnkd.in/dj6JXRP View in LinkedIn