Experimental evolution is not just for model organisms

by Anthony Burnetti, William C. Ratcliff

In a new paper published in PLOS Biology, Dudin and colleagues evolve simple multicellularity in Sphaeroforma arctica, a unicellular relative of animals. This work establishes a new and open-ended avenue for examining the evolution of multicellularity in an important but understudied group of organisms. This Primer explores the implications of a new PLOS Biology study in which the authors evolve simple multicellularity in Sphaeroforma arctica, a unicellular relative of animals; this work establishes a new and open-ended avenue for examining the evolution of multicellularity at the base of the metazoa.