Research Themes

Origins of metabolism, genes, the genetic code, molecular machines, cells, and agency

Nick Lane, Andrew Pomiankowski, Finn Werner, Kabir Hussain, John Allen

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Nunes Palmeira R, Colnaghi M, Pomiankowski A, Lane N. Selection for growth drives the emergence of genetic heredity in protocells. PLoS Biology 24(3): e3003544 (2026).
• Lane N, Xavier JC. To unravel the origin of life, treat findings as pieces of a bigger puzzle. Nature 626: 948-951 (2024).
• Harrison SA, Rammu H, Liu F, Halpern A, Nunes Palmeira R, Lane N. Life as a guide to its own origins. Annual Review Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 54: 327–50 (2023)

Deep phylogenetics, microbial mats, ecosystem evolution symbioses, autotrophic metabolism, ancestral sequence reconstruction

Harry-Luke McLelland, Wenying Shou, Joel Dacks, Nick Lane, Ziheng Yang, Finn Werner

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Moody ERR, Alvarez-Carretero, Mahendrarajah TA, Clark JW, Betts HC, Dombrowski N, Szantho LL, Boyle RA, Daines S, Chen X, Lane N, Yang Z, Shields GA, Szollosi GJ, Spang A, Pisani D, Williams TA, Lenton TM, Donoghue PCJ (2024). The nature of the Last Universal Common Ancestor and its impact on the early earth system. Nature Ecol Evol 10.1038/s41559-024-02461-1

Marine algae, isotope fractionation, computational microbiology, snowball earth, quantum biology

Harry-Luke McLelland, Bridget Wade, John Allen, Graham Shields, Jon Bridle, Alexandra Olaya-Castro

Mitochondrial endosymbiosis, sex, sexes, genome size, mitonuclear interactions, mitonuclear adaptation

Nick Lane, Andrew Pomiankowski, Joel Dacks, John Allen, Finn Werner

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Lane N, Pomiankowski A. Why selection for mitochondrial quality drives the evolution of sexes. Phil Trans R Soc B. 381: 20250076 (2026).
• Matsuo L, Novák Vanclová A, Pomiankowski A, Lane N, Dacks JB. Eukaryotic recombinases duplicated after divergence from known asgardarchaeal RadA: implications for the evolution of sex during eukaryogenesis. Genome Biol Evol, 17(12): 1-9 (2025).
• Colnaghi M, Lane N, Pomiankowski A. Repeat sequences limit the effectiveness of LGT and favoured the evolution of meiotic sex in early eukaryotes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 119: e2205041119 (2022).

Slime moulds, oscillatory signalling, game theory, Ediacaran fauna, Cambrian explosion, divergence of major animal groups

Chris Thompson, Max Telford, Stephen Pates, Paola Oliveri, Graham Shields

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Mitchell E, Pates S. From organisms to biodiversity: the ecology of the Ediacaran/Cambrian transition. Paleobiology. 51 (1) 150-173 (2025)

Genome duplications synteny, genome tectonics, Hox genes, body plans, protostomes, deuterostomes

Ferdinand Marletaz, Max Telford, Jeffrey Thompson, Anjali Goswami, Ryan Felice

Hox genes, development, embryonic specification

Paola Oliveri, Rahia Mashoodh, Max Telford, Jeffrey Thompson

Sexual conflict, sexual antagonism, parental care, mutation load

Max Reuter, Andrew Pomiankowski, Flo Camus, Rahia Mashoodh, Kevin Fowler

Energy, growth and fitness, diet, optimization of male and female fitness, sexual signals, mitonuclear interactions

Flo Camus, Nick Lane, John Allen, Max Reuter, Kevin Fowler

Adaptive radiations, coalescence theory, human evolution

Julia Day, Ziheng Yang, Sean Stankowski, Max Telford, Ferdinand Marletaz, Jon Bridle, Mark Thomas

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Bettinazzi S, Liang J, Rodriguez E, Bonneau M, Holt R, Whitehead B, Dowling DK, Lane N, Camus MF. Assessing the role of mitonuclear interactions on mitochondrial function and organismal fitness in natural Drosophila populations. Evolution Letters 25 (2024).

Evolution of signalling, cuticular hydrocarbons, slime moulds and cheating, adaptive evolution in flies

Duncan Greig, Kabir Hussain, Chris Thompson, Flo Camus, Sean Stankowski, Jon Bridle

Coalescence theory

Ziheng Yang, Christof Dessimoz, Sean Stankowski, Max Telford, Jeffrey Thompson, Mark Thomas, Aida Gomez-Robles

Photonics in photosynthesis, electron spintronics in respiration, chiral-induced spin selectivity, anaesthesia, evolution of consciousness

Nick Lane, Alexandra Olaya-Castro, Kabir Hussain

Recent papers relating to this theme

• Daplan E, Rodriguez E, Lane N, Turin L. A chance insight into phosgene toxicity. Free Rad Biol Med 238: 113-122 (2025).
• Rodriguez E, Peng B, Lane N (2024). Anaesthetics disrupt complex I-linked respiration and reverse the ATP synthase. Biochim Biophys Acta Bioenergetics 1866: 149511.
• Lane N, Rodriguez E. The physical basis of feelings. PsyArXiv doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/pnqw9_v1

Visualisation of molecular mechanisms, fitness landscapes, representation in scientific figures

Duncan Greig, Kabir Hussain, Nick Lane, Max Reuter, links with the Slade School