Mastodawn

2/8 When life first transitioned to #multicellularity, it faced an immediate challenge: how do you defend and maintain a body made of many cells? The solution was not the sudden invention of new genes. It was, again, the repurposing of an ancient pre-metazoan toolkit.

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo May 19

1(9 Great preprint from @[email protected] @[email protected] on obligate multicellularity and collective adaptation in snowflake yeast. Thought-provoking results! But I think the paper also highlights a deeper conceptual issue in the #multicellularity field. Let me explain:

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:cfqu6alt3sngvm3mir7vqtzy/post/3mlvlv2qjes2a

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo May 11

What started as weird, unknown organisms became tools for the field. Establishing new models; creating community. #multicellularity #ichthyosporeans #protistsOnSky @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo May 11

Is a net growth advantage necessary for #multicellularity? We often assume groups must outperform single cells locally. But @ctarnita & colleagues show that spatial heterogeneity can drive this transition via indirect benefits www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Direct benefits are not necess...

Direct benefits are not necessary for the evolution of multicellularity - Nature Ecology & Evolution

A model for the evolution of multicellularity in a spatially heterogeneous environment shows that indirect mechanisms such as escape from competition and increased environmental exploitation can drive the evolution of multicellularity in the absence of direct benefits.

Nature

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo Apr 23

We know somewhere lie the closest relatives of animals we still haven’t discovered. Marina & Alicia presenting our search for the unknown #Magnificent8 at #ProtistologyOpen2026! @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] #protistsonsky #multicellularity

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo Jan 16

Elena presenting our work on animal origins at Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, as part of the #CongresoFuturo #multicellularity #ichthyosporeans @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected]

Scientific Frontline Jan 8

An exceptionally detailed #molecular explanation of how clonal #multicellularity, where all cells descend from a single ancestor, can be achieved and controlled at the #genetic level.
#MolecularBiology #EvolutionaryBiology #MarineBiology #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/01/mbio01082602.html

A molecular switch that controls transitions between single-celled and multicellular forms

How did multicellular life evolve from single cells?

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo Sep 12, 2025

Thrilled to see choanoflagellates can glide! I think this provide further support to the stunning complexity of the unicellular ancestor of animals, as we have been proposing. Congrats @thibautbrunet.bsky.social ! very nice work. #AnimalOrigins #choanos #multicellularity #protistsOnSky

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:z7iuvitodjlnhfx7e4f5oeiq/post/3lygcyl6wi22l

Wittgenstein's Monster Sep 2, 2025

Scientists found five single-celled organisms that might hold the key to how life became multicellular — not fully evolved, but sometimes they form colonies.

At least amoebas aren’t stuck anxiously waiting for Stranger Things to return.

Evolution just vibes.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02635-2

#Science #Evolution #Philosophy #Neurodivergent #WritingLife #Biology #Multicellularity