Research
We apply complexity theory to understand fundamental problems in cognition, ecology, and biology.
Complex Diseases
Biological systems that exhibit a tendency towards high genetic instability as part of their adaptation potential define one of our central research areas. Two major classes of such systems — RNA viruses and cancer — share a common feature: they exploit unstable evolutionary dynamics in ways that challenge both our theoretical understanding and our capacity for therapeutic intervention. From an evolutionary and ecological perspective, these systems represent some of the most dramatic examples of
Read more →Synthetic Ecosystems
What is the potential for synthetic biology as a way of engineering, on a large scale, complex ecosystems? Can synthetic organisms be used to change endangered ecological communities and rescue them from collapse? Is it possible to create stable, diverse synthetic ecosystems capable of persisting in closed environments? These and other questions define a rapidly emerging research programme at the interface between synthetic biology, ecology and quantitative modelling. The study of ecosystems, b
Read more →Emergent Bioengineering
Our planet is experiencing an accelerated process of change associated with a variety of anthropogenic phenomena. The future of this transformation is uncertain, but there is general agreement about its negative unfolding, which might threaten our own survival. Furthermore, the pace of expected changes is likely to be abrupt: catastrophic shifts might be the most probable outcome of this ongoing, apparently slow process. Although different strategies for geoengineering the planet have been advan
Read more →Evolutionary Transitions
The evolution of life in our biosphere has been marked by several major innovations. These major complexity shifts include the origin of the genetic code, cells, symbiosis, multicellularity and programmed death, up to the emergence of non-genetic information, sight, language or even consciousness. Understanding the nature and conditions for their rise and success is a major challenge for evolutionary biology. Each of these transitions involved the integration of autonomous elements into a new, h
Read more →Fundamental constraints
It has been argued that the historical nature of evolution makes it a highly path-dependent process. Under this view, the outcome of evolutionary dynamics could have resulted in organisms with very different forms and functions. At the same time, there is ample evidence that convergence and constraints strongly limit the domain of the potential design principles that evolution can achieve. Are these limitations relevant in shaping the fabric of the possible? We argue that fundamental constraints
Read more →Liquid Brains
Cognitive networks have evolved a broad range of solutions to the problem of gathering, storing and responding to information. Some of these networks are describable as static sets of neurons linked in an adaptive web of connections. These are "solid" networks, with a well-defined and physically persistent architecture. But nature has also found a very different solution: systems formed by sets of agents that exchange, store and process information without persistent connections, moving relative
Read more →