Embracing the Unknown: The Unicellular Origins of Animal Multicellularity, Immunity, Cancer, and Cognition—and the Hunt for the Missing 'Magnificent Eight'

Host

Adriana Sánchez Danés, PhD, Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Lab

Venue

Seminar room

Abstract

In this talk, I will delineate our efforts to unravel a fundamental biological puzzle: how multicellular animals evolved from their unicellular ancestors. I will present data that challenges the view that these ancestors were simple, revealing instead a complex genetic pre-history. I will discuss the nature of this unicellular ancestor and how the transition to multicellularity laid the groundwork for our current immune vulnerabilities.
Furthermore, I will present a potential non-animal model to explore the cellular and genetic mechanisms of cancer, as well as the evolutionary origins of learning. Finally, I will highlight the critical gaps that remain in our understanding and our ongoing hunt for the 'Magnificent Eight'—eight identified but unseen lineages that hold the potential to fundamentally reshape our view of how animal life began.

Bio

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo is an ICREA Research Professor at the Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF) in Barcelona. Following his Ph.D. at the University of Barcelona and postdoctoral work at Dalhousie University (Canada), he established a unique research program dedicated to one of life’s major evolutionary transitions: the origin of multicellular animals from their unicellular ancestors.

Supported by three consecutive ERC grants, his lab pioneers the study of the closest unicellular relatives of animals—such as filastereans and ichthyosporeans—to reconstruct the genetic and cellular toolkit of our unicellular ancestors. His work challenges the view that animal complexity required a sudden burst of genetic innovation, showing instead that the unicellular ancestor was already genetically sophisticated.

By defining the rules that allowed single cells to form cooperative entities, his research offers a deep evolutionary framework for understanding the evolution of complexity, cell types, and animal development. His research also has profound implications for understanding human physiology and disease, shedding light on the origins of cancer, immunity, and cognition.

Register here.

About CR Colloquia Series

Champalimaud Research (CR) Colloquia Series is a seminar programme organised by the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown to promote the discussion about the most interesting and significant questions in neuroscience and physiology & cancer with appointed speakers by the CR Community.