Tracing Evolution through Cell Lineages

Understanding how phenotypic diversity arises requires connecting evolutionary change to the cellular processes that generate tissues and traits. Although morphology is often studied at the level of whole organisms, phenotypic variation emerges from the behaviors of individual cells. Cell lineages - the sequences of divisions, fate choices, and movements linking progenitors to their differentiated descendants - therefore form the fundamental substrate for evolutionary change.

This workshop will explore how variation in cell states, lineage architecture, and cellular dynamics contributes to evolutionary innovation. We will examine how alterations in lineage topology, timing, and spatial deployment can reshape organismal form, color, and function, and how regulatory changes become incorporated into existing gene regulatory networks to diversify or create new cell types.

Recent advances in single-cell sequencing, lineage tracing, spatial transcriptomics, and live imaging now allow us to reconstruct developmental trajectories across diverse taxa with unprecedented resolution. Comparative perspectives provide powerful opportunities to identify conserved and divergent developmental strategies and their lineage-specific elaborations. Bringing together researchers across evolutionary and developmental biology, this workshop aims to establish a unified framework for understanding how evolution acts through cell lineages to generate the diversity of life.

All scientists whose research falls into the thematic framework of the workshop are welcome to participate by either presenting a poster or giving a short talk.