Evolutionary theory is formulated in terms of individuals that carry heritable information and
are subject to selective pressures. However, individuality itself is a trait that had to evolve – …

The origin of the germline–soma distinction is a fundamental unsolved question. Plants and
basal metazoans do not have a germline but generate gametes from pluripotent stem cells …

10.7554/eLife.44269.001 Social norms can promote cooperation by assigning reputations
to individuals based on their past actions. A good reputation indicates that an individual is …

Humans typically consider altruism a moral good and condition their social behavior on the
moral reputations of others. Indirect reciprocity explains how social norms and reputations …

Roughly 1.5–2.0 Gya, the eukaryotic cell evolved from an endosymbiosis of an archaeal host
and proteobacterial symbionts. The timing of this endosymbiosis relative to the evolution of …

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and plastid DNA (ptDNA) encode vital bioenergetic apparatus,
and mutations in these organelle DNA (oDNA) molecules can be devastating. In the …

… Here, we find that without recombination, even moderate levels of paternal leakage L
severely increase the rate of mutation accumulation (Figure 2C and Figure 3), and can induce a …

Background Mitochondria are predominantly inherited from the maternal gamete, even in
unicellular organisms. Yet an extraordinary array of mechanisms enforce uniparental …

Sexual reproduction is a trait shared by all complex life, but the complete account of its origin
is missing. Virtually all theoretical work on the evolution of sex has been centered around …

Uniparental inheritance (UPI) of mitochondria predominates over biparental inheritance (BPI)
in most eukaryotes. However, examples of BPI of mitochondria, or paternal leakage, are …