MPI for Evolutionary Biology

Big congratulations to Dr Nikhil Sharma on receiving the Kiel Life Science Postdoc Award 2025! His outstanding work in theoretical biology and evolutionary graph theory makes us proud. Well deserved! 👏 #KLS #MPIEvolBio
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3847270/kiel...

(Photo: Christian Urban, Kiel University)

Early face positional programs are like "zip codes", marking the position of structures like the whiskers, nostrils and palate in the mouse embryo face.

How does each face get its unique shape?
A new study maps facial development at an unprecedented resolution, identifies early “positional programs” expressed by undifferentiated cells, and sheds light on their role in human facial shape variability.
🔗 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3846176/news...

Warum sind Kinder keine halben Kopien ihrer Eltern? Wie beeinflusst die DNA unsere Fruchtbarkeit? Rajalekshmi Narayana Sarma beantwortet diese und weitere spannende Fragen am Freitag um 21:00 Uhr im Frederik-Paulsen-Hörsaal bei der #NightOfTheProfs der @uni-kiel.de.
@mpi-evolbio.bsky.social

🎉 Congrats to Prof. John Baines, associated member of the MPI for Evolutionary Biology, on being named a Highly Cited Researcher 2025 by Clarivate!
Proud to see his work among the global top 1% of most cited research.
www.uksh.de/Das+UKSH/Neu...
(Photo-credits: UKSH)

Rajalekshmi N. Sarma (MPI EvolBio) will be speaking at Kiel University’s Night of the Profs this Friday!
Catch her Science Show talk at 21:00 in the Frederik-Paulsen Lecture Hall.
Free admission — bring your friends and family!
More info: uni-kiel.de/de/veranstaltungen/night-of-the-profs
(CAU Kiel)

Big cheers from MPI for Evolutionary Biology! 🎉
Our alumna Dr. Christin Nyhoegen wins the KlarText Prize 2025 for her piece “Penicillin and a Small Dose of Mathematics.”
She shows how math helps improve antibiotic treatments and prevent resistance. 👏
#KlarTextPreis #MPIEvolBio #ScienceCommunication

Bacteria can borrow viruses to spread defence genes! 🦠🔬
Researchers at @MPI_EvolBio found that “jumbo phages” can carry bacterial mobile DNA, allowing the bacteria to hijack viral machinery for their own protection.
👉 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3840277/news...

WE ARE HIRING!
Please spread widely!

#Postdoc in #Evolutionary #Genomics
-> www.mpg.de/25524526/

#Postdoc in #Molecular #Biology & #Cell #Signalling
-> www.mpg.de/25524509/

@mpi-evolbio.bsky.social @maxplanck.de

#ScienceJobs #EvoBio #MolBio #Ecology #Chronobiology #Marine #EntoSky #Biodiversity

We know since Darwin´s book on the topic of sexual selection that the issue is more complex with respect to the sexual phenotype of individuals. The scientific background is provided in the introduction to the study and explained in its full context in the reference cited above.

Why are kids not half copies of their parents? How does our DNA control our fertility? Rajalekshmi Narayana Sarma from the @uni-kiel.de answers these and other exciting questions in her talk on 26.09 at 18:00 in the Pumpe.
Free admission
@mpi-evolbio.bsky.social
#ScienceDay
#KielRegion

The study shows that male and female phenotypic variances are overlapping when one measures them and that different body parts can have different overlaps. Accordingly, a categorization based on gamete types does not reflect the reality of individuals.

Does population size shape protein coevolution?
I explored this in my talk today at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology.
Our work in mammals suggests the answer is yes - genetic drift is a major determinant of compensatory mutations.

#evolution #genomics #proteinevolution @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social

We build on Darwin’s work on sexual selection here.
Isn´t it self-evident that not all males and all females look the same? One cannot simply discuss this away by a definition. Individuals are more than their sex organs. For a further explanation, please look here: www.biuz.de/index.php/bi...

🔬✨ Our bodies are mosaics!
A new study reveals: Organs aren’t just “male” or “female” – they show overlapping patterns of sex-specific traits. Sex is a spectrum, not a box. 👉 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3837588/news...

Our current follow-up #modelling study with @gokhalecs.bsky.social, former colleague @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social, suggests that larval competition for space can actually drive the evolution of divergent reproductive timing, aka #allochrony, which results in spatial separation and reduced competition.

Could humans and AI one day form a single “evolutionary individual”? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology raise this question in a new publication exploring human–AI interdependence.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3836073/news...

As interdependencies between humans and AI grow, the two could come to function not merely as interacting agents, but as an integrated evolutionary individual subject to selection at the collective level. Image credit: Dave Cutler (artist).

In a just published OpEd, with @mkhochb.bsky.social‬, we draw upon Major Evolutionary Transitions thinking to outline future scenarios in which humans and AI might come to form new kinds of evolutionary units: humans as subsystems within an AI-coordinated whole.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
‪

Podcast

In this @PhysicsWorld podcast, Silvia De Monte — Senior Scientist at @EvolBioMPI — explores how physics helps decode complex biological systems, from predator-prey models to the human microbiome.
Listen here: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3612354/podc...

We wish you every success in your future endeavors and look forward to staying in touch. Stay true to yourself!

A group of about twenty people is standing and sitting on a grassy area in front of trees and a blue sky. Some are wearing name tags.

🌍 Theory meets experiment! At the MPI Plön workshop on Evolutionary Rescue, researchers explored how models and data can work hand in hand.

www.evolbio.mpg.de/3829720/scie...

#EvoRescue25 #ScienceDialogue

Two midge strains, one coastline — yet no competition. Clunio marinus turns moon phases into maps: full moon vs. new moon means different times, different spaces. Time becomes space. Evolution dances by moonlight. 🌕🌑
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3828955/news...

#Evolution #MoonTiming #MaxPlanck

🏁 Third place in the dragon boat race & a great day at our booth at the Stadtbuchtfest Plönl! 🧬🚣‍♀️ Lots of curious visitors, fun science activities, and a fantastic team effort – thanks to everyone who made it happen!
#Plön #ScienceInAction #MPIEvolbio #Stadtbuchtfest

Bei uns wird’s wissenschaftlich kreativ! 🔬🧬
Vorbeikommen, staunen, mitmachen – wir bringen die Evolutionsbiologie ans Wasser! 🌊✨

📍 Stadtbucht Plön
#Stadtbuchtfest #MPIEvolution #MitmachenErwünscht #CitizenScience

Hands-on Science – at the Plön Stadtbucht Festival!
This Sunday, we invite you to our interactive booth:

🧬 Turn your first name into a personalized DNA bracelet
🔬 Discover fascinating lake microorganisms and yeast under the microscope

#Plön #Stadtbuchtfest #ScienceForEveryone #CitizenScience

🌍❄️ Why do we stop wearing masks when cases drop? New research from the MPI EvolBio shows:

fewer infections → less caution → winter surges of flu & COVID-19. Smarter prevention needed!

🦠🔄 Read more: www.evolbio.mpg.de/3827501/the-...

#Science #PublicHealth

🤖🧬 How does cooperation evolve in humans and machines?
A new PNAS issue links game theory & AI – with work from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.
Insights into collaboration, incentives & digital systems.
🔗 www.evolbio.mpg.de/3826775/evol...
#AI #PNAS #GameTheory

Great discussions at the #OMICS workshop in Borstel! Over 30 experts gathered to tackle the future of data management in biomolecular research. Exciting things ahead for the OMICS community in Northern Germany! 🌍🔬
#OMICS #DataManagement #ResearchInnovation

www.evolbio.mpg.de/3825218/sust...

3D confocal laser microscopy showing the expression of MN1 (magenta) in embryos of four different vertebrate species using HCR in situ hybridization. From left to right: mouse, chicken, zebrafish and small-spotted catshark.

🧠 Missing link of synchronized skull and brain development and evolution revealed — explaining rare congenital syndromes.
🧬 Evolution meets development and medicine.
#Evolution #Development #BrainSkull #EvolutionaryInnovations

www.evolbio.mpg.de/3823787/news...

🎉 Today, we celebrated a major milestone: the opening of our new state-of-the-art research building!
5,650 m² of cutting-edge labs, offices, and meeting spaces — driving world-class science in Plön and beyond. 🚀
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3822418/feie...
#EvolutionaryBiology #ScienceNews #ResearchExcellence

🐭 Wild house mice have love strategies:
Some fight for territory and guard females.
Others roam, flirting on the go.
Most switch it up—based on age, strength & social vibes.
🧬 It’s not just instinct. It’s personality.
www.evolbio.mpg.de/3816673/news...
#evolution #animalbehavior #science