Formalizing the paradox of the organism

Description

The paradox of the organism refers to the observation that organisms persist as seemingly coherent entities with the singular agenda of maximizing fitness, despite the potential for intra-organismal elements such as genes and cells to hold and pursue conflicting agendas. Quantifying to what extent such intra-organismal conflict actually threatens the integrity of the organism and its ability to pursue fitness maximization requires the development of a mathematical framework that relates the agenda of the organism to the potentially-conflicting agendas of its constituent parts. Here, I will discuss which mechanisms contribute to intra-organismal entities having shared versus disparate agendas, and to which extent disparate agendas and the mechanisms of pursuing them represent a threat to organismal integrity. The resulting insights are used to discuss a preliminary framework for quantifying the paradox of the organism.

Period	8-Nov-2022
Event title	The Paradox of the Organism (Revisited)
Event type	Conference
Location	Washington, United States, District of ColumbiaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International