The KLI supports international groups of scholars in the life and cognitive sciences working on interdisciplinary projects to conduct their groundbreaking research at the institute. KLI Focus Groups and Working Groups aim to develop ideas on a particular subject and generate suggestions for action. The participants have different scientific backgrounds and strive to develop specific, practical goals.
Event Details
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
Topic description / abstract:
Recent years have seen the growth of work illuminating the mechanical aspects of morphogenesis, but its relationship to the established ideas and evidence of developmental and evolutionary genetics remains unclear. This talk examines the conceptual relationship between mechanics and genetics in the context of animal morphogenesis. I propose a view in which ‘genetic programs’—understood as gene regulatory networks—and processes of physical self-organization are not conflicting models of development, but instead play necessary and complementary causal roles at cellular and supra-cellular length scales, respectively. On this basis, I describe differences in how mechanical versus genetic factors influence the evolvability of morphological traits.
