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News From the Field

Sex Works Thanks to Ever-evolving Host, Parasite Relationships


July 7, 2011

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Indiana University biologists have found that, although sexual reproduction between two individuals is costly from an evolutionary perspective, it is favored over self-fertilization in the presence of co-evolving parasites. Sex allows parents to produce offspring that are more resistant to the parasites, while self-fertilization dooms populations to extinction at the hands of their biological enemies.Full Story

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Indiana University

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