{"639521":{"#nid":"639521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Specialized Cells or Multicellular Multitaskers? New Study Reshapes Early Economics and Ecology Behind Evolutionary Division of Labor ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new research\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/articles\/54348\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;from researchers in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;focuses on the evolution of reproductive specialization \u0026ndash; how early single cells first got together to create more complex multicellular organisms. In particular, scientists leading the study sought to better understand how those early cells decided which ones would focus on reproduction, and which ones would get busy building parts of a larger organism.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe work, published this month in the journal\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/\u0022\u003EeLife\u003C\/a\u003E, references \u0026ldquo;division of labor,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;trade,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;productivity\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;return on investment,\u0026rdquo; (ROI) to describe those cellular activities. If that sounds like a paper destined for a business magazine instead of a peer-reviewed journal on biological sciences research, there\u0026rsquo;s a good reason.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs the study, led by assistant professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/peter-yunker-0\u0022\u003EPeter Yunker\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and associate professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/will-ratcliff\u0022\u003EWill Ratcliff\u003C\/a\u003E, notes in the abstract, \u0026ldquo;A large body of work from evolutionary biology, economics, and ecology has shown that specialization is beneficial when further division of labor produces an accelerating increase in absolute productivity.\u0026rdquo; In other words, the prevailing theories state that specialization pays off only when it increases total productivity \u0026ndash; whether it\u0026rsquo;s multicellular organism or widgets streaming out of a factory.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat Yunker, from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E, and Ratcliff, from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and co-director of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences\u0026nbsp;(QBioS)\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;have found is that the conditions for the evolution of specialized cells were actually much broader than previously thought. Absolute productivity be darned, the cells seem to say; specialization appeared to be a winning strategy, even under conditions that should favor cellular self-sufficiency.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhy? It has to do with the topology of the network of cells within the organism \u0026ndash; what Ratcliff calls a branchy structure. That topology determines that the division of labor can be favored, even if productivity suffers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/elifesciences.org\/articles\/54348\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Topological constraints in early multicellularity favor reproductive division of labor\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the title of the team\u0026rsquo;s paper. Yunker and Ratcliff collaborated with several other Georgia Tech faculty and graduate students on the research: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua S. Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, Patton Distinguished Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and co-director of QBioS; School of Physics graduate students\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=6hQpwvkAAAAJ\u0026amp;hl=en\u0022\u003EDavid Yanni\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=gDNSyXIAAAAJ\u0026amp;hl=en\u0022\u003EShane Jacobeen\u003C\/a\u003E; and School of Biological Sciences graduate student\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/pedro-marquez-zacarias\u0022\u003EPedro Marquez-Zacarias\u003C\/a\u003E. All are members of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMulticellular multitasking\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs cells get more complex, they begin to specialize. Some cells are dedicated to reproduction, while others are devoted to other general tasks such as making and maintaining the organism\u0026rsquo;s body. \u0026ldquo;In this paper, what we\u0026rsquo;re trying to figure out is, when is it a good idea to specialize and have that pay off, and when it is a good idea for your cells to remain generalists?\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff says. \u0026ldquo;Under what conditions does evolution favor specialization, and in what conditions do simple multicellular organisms keep every cell a generalist?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor centuries, scientists have known that specialization is very important for multicellularity. \u0026ldquo;Once we had microscopes, we were off to the races learning about specialization,\u0026rdquo; Ratcliff says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe thinking for the last few decades has been that more specialized cells evolve when specialization results in increasingly higher productivity. \u0026ldquo;That will push things to complete specialization because there\u0026rsquo;s more to be gained by specializing than not specializing.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYet what if those cells are not interacting randomly with a lot of other cells, but only with a few cells over and over again? \u0026ldquo;This is actually the case for a little branchy structure that contains mom and all her kids. The only cells you are attached to are the ones that gave rise to you, and the ones that arise from you,\u0026rdquo; he says. Those \u0026ldquo;branchy structures\u0026rdquo; offer the topological constraints mentioned in the title of the research study.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBranch banking of cellular products\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYunker explains that those tree-branchy structures can be thought of as similar to fractals, in which math functions are repeated again and again and are depicted as jagged borders stretching into infinity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Mandelbrot sets and the broader study of fractals have been an inspiration for a lot of this,\u0026rdquo; Yunker says. \u0026ldquo;After the concepts behind fractals were identified, people eventually started to see them everywhere. Instead of some unique esoteric thing, it was pervasive. In a similar vein, the structures that we find make evolving division of labor easier, these sparse filaments and branched topologies, are common in nature,\u0026rdquo; including so-called snowflake yeast and some forms of algae.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYunker agrees that it may seem counter-intuitive, but as you restrict cellular interactions, like swapping of products that can enhance reproduction or specialization, that specialization actually becomes easier according to his team\u0026rsquo;s mathematical models.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECells that produce the same products won\u0026rsquo;t interact or \u0026#39;trade\u0026#39; with each other, since that would be a waste of energy and efficiency. \u0026ldquo;A redundancy comes into play here,\u0026rdquo; Yunker says. \u0026ldquo;If you have a lot of similar cells trading, that increased productivity doesn\u0026rsquo;t do you a lot of good. Whereas if you have dissimilar or opposites trading, even with lower productivity, they\u0026rsquo;re able to direct those resources in a more efficient manner.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat can economists and cancer researchers learn from these cells?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince economics has already figured into the study of how multicellular organisms evolved, with all of that labor and trade and ROI, could that discipline have something to learn from Yunker and Ratcliff\u0026rsquo;s new theory \u0026mdash; could the lessons mean a more efficient way to make all kinds of products?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Could this apply in economics? Could it apply elsewhere?\u0026rdquo; Yunker echoes. \u0026ldquo;This is something we would love to pursue going forward.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERatcliff notes the multidisciplinary approach his biophysics and biosciences team took to approaching the study, which also involved mathematical models developed by Weitz. \u0026ldquo;We were really motivated by understanding both how life got to be complex, and the rules for why it did,\u0026rdquo; he says. \u0026ldquo;This paper follows into the \u0026lsquo;why\u0026rsquo; category. Fundamental mathematics tells you about the rules evolution plays by, and there are a lot of downstream applications, like cancer research, agriculture, and infectious disease. You never really can predict how someone will leverage basic insight.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A new study led by Peter Yunker and Will Ratcliff probes the evolution of multicellular organisms and provides new insight into decades-long theories about early cell specialization and division of labor "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETwo Georgia Tech scientists are raising new questions about the development of specialized cells in early multicellular organisms.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study led by Peter Yunker and Will Ratcliff probes the evolution of multicellular organisms and provides new insight into decades-long theories about early cell specialization and division of labor "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2020-09-24 18:22:52","changed_gmt":"2020-11-03 17:18:11","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-09-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"639523":{"id":"639523","type":"image","title":"A magnified view of the \u0022branchy structure\u0022 found in snowflake yeast (Image: Will Ratcliff)","body":null,"created":"1600972353","gmt_created":"2020-09-24 18:32:33","changed":"1600978448","gmt_changed":"2020-09-24 20:14:08","alt":"","file":{"fid":"243154","name":"branchy structure 1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/branchy%20structure%201.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/branchy%20structure%201.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":188279,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/branchy%20structure%201.jpg?itok=K9FW_X32"}},"639525":{"id":"639525","type":"image","title":"Peter Yunker (left) and Will Ratcliff. 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