Converging Dialogues #483 - The Paradox of the Organism: A Dialogue with Arvid Ågren & Manus Patten
Mar 18, 2026
Manus M. Patten, evolutionary biologist at Georgetown who studies conflict in organisms, and J. Arvid Ågren, evolutionary biologist exploring within-organism conflicts, discuss how selfish parts coexist inside bodies. They cover origins of multicellularity, cancer and pregnancy as clinical examples, genomic imprinting, transmission versus trait-distorting elements, and links to philosophy and applied biology.
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Why Multicellularity Creates Persistent Internal Conflict
- Multicellularity arose when formerly independent cells gave up individual fitness to form collectives governed at higher levels.
- Arvid Ågren explains that because parts once had agency, remnants of that individuality (genes, cells) can still pursue conflicting interests within organisms.
How Tumor Competition Can Be Turned Into Therapy
- Tumors are genetically heterogeneous with multiple strains coexisting and competing inside a single tumor.
- Arvid describes adaptive therapy: applying limited treatment to keep drug-sensitive strains that outcompete resistant ones, slowing overall evolution of resistance.
How Inclusive Fitness Splits Inside A Single Genome
- Inclusive fitness breaks into direct and indirect components, and parts of a genome can experience different relatedness to social partners.
- Manus Patten and Arvid use genomic imprinting as an example where maternal and paternal halves have divergent inclusive fitness interests.
