Mobile genetic elements are key to the evolution of bacteria and traits that affect host and
ecosystem health. Here, we use a framework of a hierarchical and modular system that …

Extensive experimental animal studies and epidemiological observations have shown that
environmental influences during early development affect the risk of later pathophysiological …

Synthetic biology and bioengineering provide the opportunity to create novel embodied
cognitive systems (otherwise known as minds) in a very wide variety of chimeric …

Evolution provides a creative fount of complex and subtle adaptations that often surprise the
scientists who discover them. However, the creativity of evolution is not limited to the natural …

Network-based analyses of brain imaging data consistently reveal distinct modules and
connector nodes with diverse global connectivity across the modules. How discrete the …

Engineers routinely design systems to be modular and symmetric in order to increase
robustness to perturbations and to facilitate alterations at a later date. Biological structures …

All epistemic agents physically consist of parts that must somehow comprise an integrated
cognitive self. Biological individuals consist of subunits (organs, cells, and molecular …

Animal tissues are made up of multiple cell types that are increasingly well-characterized,
yet our understanding of the core principles that govern tissue organization is still …

Many forms of developmental plasticity have been observed and these are usually
beneficial to the organism. The Predictive Adaptive Response (PAR) hypothesis refers to a …

A critical aspect of evolution is the layer of developmental physiology that operates between
the genotype and the anatomical phenotype. While much work has addressed the evolution …