ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2017
The evolution of cooperation in simple molecular replicators.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Experimental evolution toward extinction in a molecular host-parasite system.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Selectively advantageous instability in biotic and pre-biotic systems and implications for evolution and aging.Frontiers in aging · 2024Review
- Relatedness and the evolution of mechanisms to divide labor in microorganisms.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Article
- Ten recent insights for our understanding of cooperation.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Review
- A Place for Viruses on the Tree of Life.Frontiers in microbiology · 2020Review
- Kin Selection in the RNA World.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In order for the first genomes to evolve, independent replicators had to act cooperatively, with some reducing their own replication rate to help copy others. It has been argued that limited diffusion explains this early cooperation. However, social evolution models have shown that limited diffusion on its own often does not favour cooperation. Here we model early replicators using social evolution tools. We show that: (i) replicators can be considered to be cooperating as a result of kin selection; (ii) limited diffusion on its own does not favour cooperation; and (iii) the addition of overlapping generations, probably a general trait of molecular replicators, promotes cooperation. These results suggest key life-history features in the evolution of the genome and that the same factors can favour cooperation across the entire tree of life.
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Registered trials
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