Bodily Breakdown Explained: How Cell Differentiation Patterns Suppress Somatic Evolution

Natural selection can occur at the cellular level, where it is detrimental
to health. Fortunately it is normally controlled by a well-known pattern
of
ongoing cell differentiation in the mature tissues of animals, according
to a new study published December 14 in PLoS Computational Biology.



The failure of normal cell differentiation patterns may explain cancer and
senescent decline with aging, say researchers at the University of
Arizona,
the Santa Fe Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Wistar
Institute.



Darwinian natural selection and evolution is usually studied in
populations of organisms, but it also applies to cellular populations;
this is called
"somatic" evolution. Such somatic evolution tends to reduce cooperation
among cells, thus threatening the integrity of the organism.



In this study the authors proposed that a well-known pattern of ongoing
cell differentiation in the mature tissues of animals functions to
suppress
somatic evolution, which is essential to the origin and sustainability of
multicellular organisms.



The team, lead by Dr. John Pepper, tested this hypothesis using a computer
simulation of cell population dynamics and evolution. The results were
consistent with the hypothesis, suggesting that familiar patterns of
ongoing cell differentiation were crucial to the evolution of
multicellular
animals, and remain crucial as a bodily defense against cancer.




Citation: Pepper JW, Sprouffske K, Maley CC (2007) Animal cell
differentiation patterns suppress somatic evolution. PLoS Comput Biol
3(12): e250.
doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030250
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