Martijn Schenkel
Evolutionary biologist working on conflicts, unusual genetics, sex, and all the other funny things that make biology tick | https://martijnaschenkel.wordpress.com | STN Internal Conflicts & Organismal Adaptation https://internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- NEW PAPER with @arvidagren.bsky.social and Manus Patten on evolutionary reversions in individuality now out (as an advance article) at @jevbio.bsky.social (see academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...). Thread below! [1/8] .
- We draw on insights from the philosophy of biology to show how individuals may fall apart in different ways, depending on how individuality becomes compromised. Different types of individuality in biology have been shaped by evolutionary transitions in individuality [2/8]
- e.g. from unicellular to multicellular organisms. But what is that “transitions” in the process? This can be answered in different ways, drawing on different individuality concepts. As it turns out, these transitions actually involve changes along all such axes of individuality! [3/8]
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View full threadWe discuss some ways in which reversions may help advance our understanding of the evolution of individuality and provide a new perspective on how to think about individuality. [8/8]
- Join us for another Internal Conflicts STN seminar tomorrow at 9:00 UTC! Emily Hornett (@bolinabug.bsky.social) and Greg Hurst (@greghurst.bsky.social) will talk about their work on male-killing and sex determination evolution. Zoom info and more: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc... #ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThe Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict is now out! Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelJoin me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel*SAVE THE DATE* On Tuesday December 16 at 11am Eastern we will have virtual book launch of The Paradox of the Organism. It will be hosted by the great @athenaaktipis.bsky.social. Please join! Zoom link here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelJoin our online seminar on December 16, 2025, at 16:00 UTC to celebrate the book release "The Paradox of the Organism". More info: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com #conference
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel[This post could not be retrieved]
- Got my copy in the mail today! Looking forward to (finally) reading the actual book 🥳
- We're looking for papers! If you're working on internal conflicts - selfish genetic elements, cancer, etc. - consider submitting your work to our special issue. You'll be in good company, plus all the other benefits that come with supporting society journals like JEB.
- 📣 CALL FOR PAPERS!! New Special Issue on "Foundations of Internal Conflicts": academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca... #internalconflict #selfishelements #meioticdrive #imprintedgenes #reproductiveparasitism
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelWonderful talks and discussion from @jenncoughlan.bsky.social and @ecmoore.bsky.social y.social! If you missed it, the recording will soon be available at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/ Pencil in December 16 for the last seminar of the year.
- Speciation special with @jenncoughlan.bsky.social and @ecmoore.bsky.social! Thursday November 13.
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelOne more day to go! 10am Eastern Thursday November 13. internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Speciation special with @jenncoughlan.bsky.social and @ecmoore.bsky.social! Thursday November 13.
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelSpeciation special with @jenncoughlan.bsky.social and @ecmoore.bsky.social! Thursday November 13.
- Join us for the "Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation" seminar on Nov 13, 15:00 UTC. Speakers include Jenn Coughlan and Emily Moore. More details: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com #conference
- New paper out with Manus Patten and @arvidagren.bsky.social in Biology & Philosophy! We propose a framework to capture the severity of different types of internal conflict and how this allows for a quantitative approach to evolutionary individuality across different biological collectives.
- *NEW PAPER* How much of a threat are within-organism conflicts, really? In Biology & Philosophy, @martijnschenkel.bsky.social, Manus Patten, and I present a mathematical framework to measure evolutionary individuality in the face of internal conflicts. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel*NEW PAPER* How much of a threat are within-organism conflicts, really? In Biology & Philosophy, @martijnschenkel.bsky.social, Manus Patten, and I present a mathematical framework to measure evolutionary individuality in the face of internal conflicts. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Working on internal conflicts? Please submit to the Internal Conflicts STN special issue with @jevbio.bsky.social! We invite work on all forms of within-organism conflict, and are very keen to receive research manuscripts. See the link for more info, or reach out to me if you have any questions.
- Link to EvolDir post: evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelWorking any sort of within-organism conflict? Submit a paper to our special issue in @jevbio.bsky.social!
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThe second seminar of the year is on Thursday, October 16 at 10am Eastern. @salazarafra.bsky.social + @ellenclarke.bsky.social Join us! internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Getting ready for another semester of seminars for the @eseb.bsky.social STN Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation. First seminar on September 19 internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelFirst seminar is this Friday, September 19 at 9am Eastern. Laurence Hurst and Phil Madgwick. Join us!
- Getting ready for another semester of seminars for the @eseb.bsky.social STN Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation. First seminar on September 19 internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Join us this Friday at 13:00 UTC for the first Internal Conflicts STN seminar of this academic year, featuring Laurence Hurst and Phil Madgwick! Details via internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/, also on several upcoming seminars.
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelTake a sneak peak at The Paradox of the Organism at Google books books.google.com/books?hl=sv&... Don’t forget to pre-order!
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelIf you work on the internal conflicts, do consider proposing a paper for our upcoming special issue in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. More info here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/special-issue/
- Getting ready for another semester of seminars for the @eseb.bsky.social STN Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation. First seminar on September 19 internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelGetting ready for another semester of seminars for the @eseb.bsky.social STN Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation. First seminar on September 19 internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- New paper out in Proc B on remote-control meiotic drive! Segregation distorters normally eliminate their chromosomal counterpart, but we show that meddling with other chromosomes may also be beneficial, with unusual results. See thread below, paper at royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelComing December 16!
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelAt #ESEB2025 a high frequency of talks have ended with advertisements for PhDs and Postdocs. Grad students, crack in! You never know where a simple conversation might lead.
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelHey #ESEB2025 folk! I'll be presenting my work on describing evolution in finite populations at 11:30 am on Tuesday in S-03. Drop by to learn how taking ecology and variable population size seriously changes classic pop gen descriptions like the Price eqn, revealing novel directional eco-evo forces.
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkelhello to everyone going to #ESEB2025! want to hear about the consequences of age-dependent plasticity in reproducing via sex vs. asex? I will give a talk at 11:15am on Thursday in S15.02. come for the pretty Hydra illustrations, stay for the novel evolutionary insights on facultative sex!
- Wonder if Bruce Wallace liked his dean. From: B. Wallace (1975). Hard and soft selection revisited. Evolution 29:465-473.
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelNew paper out at Biological Reviews!! 🥳🥳 "Infection dynamics of endosymbionts that manipulate arthropod reproduction" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/brv.70024 A joint effort with Franziska Brenninger (now a postdoc @unibe.ch) and @kokkonut.bsky.social. (1/5)
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel
- Now available for preorder! The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict, edited by me and Manus Patten, will be published by @harvardpress.bsky.social this fall. Cover coming soon.
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel*SAVE THE DATE* The next seminar of our Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation virtual lectures series will be on April 30. Talks from Perran Stott Ross and Filip Husnik. Please note the time! Sign up and check out recordings of previous talks here internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- Join us tomorrow at 8:00 UTC (10:00 CEST) for the next Internal Conflicts STN seminar! Talks by Perran Stott Ross and Filip Husnik. For Zoom link + more info see internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThe second workshop of our @eseb.bsky.social STN Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation will take place at the Princess Hotel, Barcelona on August 17, during the day before the ESEB congress evening reception. More info and registration here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/workshop-ii/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelNow available for preorder! The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict, edited by me and Manus Patten, will be published by @harvardpress.bsky.social this fall. Cover coming soon.
- Registration (free!) is now open for the second Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN workshop in Barcelona on August 17! Like our first workshop, it will feature contributed talks and group-based discussions on key themes. Info + registration: internalconflictsSTN.wordpress.com. [1/2]
- The workshop will precede the ESEB 2025 conference, and will take place right next door to the conference venue to make it easier for ESEB attendants. Start your conference right with a deep dive into the world of internal conflicts! Space is limited so grab a spot while you can. [2/2]
- Join us later today at the STN seminar! Talks by Elizabeth Ostrowski and Amy Boddy!
- Join us next Thursday/Friday for another seminar of the Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN! A late-night event for Europeans, and a great way to end the workday (for Americas timezones) or start one (for Asia/Oceania timezones). Details at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelToday!
- *SAVE THE DATE* The next seminar of our Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation virtual lectures series will be on Thursday, March 20 at 6pm Eastern. Talks from Elizabeth Ostrowski and Amy Boddy. Sign up and check out recordings of previous talks here internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- Join us next Thursday/Friday for another seminar of the Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN! A late-night event for Europeans, and a great way to end the workday (for Americas timezones) or start one (for Asia/Oceania timezones). Details at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- *SAVE THE DATE* The next seminar of our Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation virtual lectures series will be on Thursday, March 20 at 6pm Eastern. Talks from Elizabeth Ostrowski and Amy Boddy. Sign up and check out recordings of previous talks here internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelJoin for the 10th virtual seminar in the @eseb.bsky.social Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN! Wednesday at 9am Eastern! internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars-2/
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThank you all for the suggestions, I compiled them all here for the time being (might try to make something more stable than a google doc later), in case it is useful for anyone else: docs.google.com/document/d/1... In the meantime, I will keep editing with new resources and recommendations!
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelWhat can we learn about ageing by looking beyond sexually reproducing unitary organisms? Very excited that our symposium (w/ Dr. Margaux Bieuville, not on bsky) "Ageing outside of the box: insights from unusual and non-model species" was accepted @eseb2025.bsky.social! eseb2025.com/list-of-symp...
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel*Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation* Join us on Thursday, 9am Eastern, for a history special in our STN lecture series! Jack Werren and Bengt Olle Bengtsson will reflect on their many years of working on genetic conflicts.
- Happy to announce that ESEB 2025 will feature a symposium on the evolution in and of diverse genetic systems! See eseb2025.com/list-of-symp... for more info and the full list of accepted symposia (so many cool things happening!) [1/2]
- Our symposium will feature theoretical and empirical work on e.g. evolution in unusual genetic systems, the evolution of these systems themselves, and selfish genetic elements - and more! So please consider submitting your abstract to our symposium. Looking forward to seeing you in Barcelona! [2/2]
- Come join us for another Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation seminar, this week on Thursday at 14:00 UTC! See internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com for more info on the STN and the seminars.
- Join us next week Thursday at 14:00 UTC for another seminar of the Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN! John Werren and Bengt Bengtsson will discuss the early days of studying internal conflicts and selfish genetic elements. See internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars for more info.
- Join us next week Thursday at 14:00 UTC for another seminar of the Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation STN! John Werren and Bengt Bengtsson will discuss the early days of studying internal conflicts and selfish genetic elements. See internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars for more info.
- This gets even worse when we compare the same trend across other places. Some Friday afternoon fun. Oh, such are the joys of postdoc life...
- (to clarify, this is not necessarily the best of analyses, just curious to see how this held up across other places than the US. I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about which countries count for which continents, so YMMV).
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelJoin us for the 8th seminar in the Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation @eseb.bsky.social STN lecture series. Talks from @bryangitschlag.bsky.social and Michele Hays. Thursday December 12, 11am Eastern!
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelNew paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThe hidden cost of aggregation lies in the incompatibilities between cells with different genetic dialects doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by @jahanisrat.bsky.social, @treyjscott.bsky.social, @joanstrassmann.bsky.social, and David C Queller
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelA new platform, a new thread. Here's a thread explaining our recent work on #evolution in finite populations, now available ahead of print in @asn-amnat.bsky.social 🧬🧪
- Super excited to say our work on finite population #Evolution has now been accepted by the American Naturalist @asn-amnat.bsky.social ! You can now find the accepted version online: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... Please reach out if you'd like a PDF or have any questions!! 🧪🧬🌏
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelPhD studentship position- Symbiosis in a thermally variable world. Goal: to understand how & why insect symbiosis is disrupted by low/high temperature. Pays Stipend + fees; International students eligible. Webinar for questions: 5th December at 12 noon UK time. tinyurl.com/4jn96z3h #symbiosky
- Lab trip with the Kokkonuts @kokkonut.bsky.social @shikharabhat.bsky.social @tom-is-kean.bsky.social et al to Berlin was great fun! Definitely worth coming back in the future 👍😋
- Reposted by Martijn Schenkel🚨JOB 🚨Would a title "Professor of Life History Evolution" suit you? If yes... Become a colleague of us here in Mainz! I am happy to provide more information if this intrigues you. cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de/karriere/wp-...
- Reposted by Martijn SchenkelThere are a lot of new people here, so I've set up a starter pack on Mating Systems, including sexual selection and conflict, sex differences and determination. Let me know if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/QXrYoQYat://did:plc:mbntwyftspb3afrzyqdk7xnb/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lamashtccn2t
