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Close Family Ties Keep Cheaters in Check, Study Finds


December 15, 2011

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Any multicellular animal poses a special difficulty for the theory of evolution. Most of its cells will die without reproducing, and only a privileged few will pass their genes. Given the incentive for cheating, how is cooperation among the cells enforced? In the Dec. 16 issue of the journal Science, Washington University in St. Louis evolutionary biologists suggest the answer is frequent population bottlenecks that restart populations from a single cell.Full Story

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Washington University in St. Louis

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