SYMPOSIUM: New Perspectives on the Origin of Metazoan Complexity, held at (SICB) meeting in Anaheim, California

Society For Integrative And Comparative Biology, Herndon VA

Investigators

Abstract

The symposium, New Perspectives on the Origin of Metazoan Complexity, will be held at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting, January 3-6, 2002, in Anaheim, California. Funding for the symposium will provide a stimulus for research on the early diversification of metazoans. The vast majority of living organisms, bacteria, algae, and "protozoans", consist of single cells or even when multicellular of only a few different types of cells. What distinguishes metazoans from these organisms is that they have not just many cells, but many different types of cells. Their cells, moreover, are organized in complex patterns, forming tissues and organs. Exactly how metazoan complexity evolved is a daunting problem in evolutionary biology. The goal of this symposium is to examine how the morphological and theoretical aspects of metazoan complexity relate to the growing evidence that genomic complexity increased very early and rapidly and may predate even the origin of the clade. Such a view challenges the idea that metazoan ancestors were simple and that complexity has arisen incrementally. The symposium will bring together a select group of biologists and paleontologists to identify promising areas for research and promote greater cooperation between their respective disciplines. The program includes promising young investigators at the Masters, PhD, and postdoctoral levels as well as senior investigators with established research programs. The symposium is also designed to encourage gender diversity, with 7 women as presenting authors, and promote foreign collaborations, with 12 of the participants coming from countries other than the United States.