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Evolutionary Biology
Volume 43, Number 4, December 2016
ISSN 0071-3260
Evolutionary
Biology
Founded by
ABC
Dobzhansky,
springer.com/ebooks Hecht and
1 Steere in 1967
015420x
Evolutionary Biology
Patterns and Processes in Cultural Evolution Abstracts in Science Citation Index, Science Citation Index
M. Bradie · J.L. Bouzat 516 Expanded (SciSearch), Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition,
SCOPUS, Google Scholar, Abstracts in Anthropology, Academic
Three Trends in the History of Life: An Evolutionary OneFile, BIOSIS, BIOSIS Review Reports and Meetings,
Syndrome EMBiology, Expanded Academic, GeoRef, Highbeam, Index to
D.W. McShea 531 Scientific Reviews, OCLC, SCImago, Summon by Serial
Solutions, Zoological Record
From the Cell to the Ecosystem: The Physiological
Evolution of Symbiosis Instructions for Authors for Evol Biol are available at
R. Guerrero · M. Berlanga 543 http://www.springer.com/11692
Evol Biol (2016) 43
About the Cover Also at the right, a playful idea of amoebas morphing into a
cultural pattern, such as the paisley. In the paisley you find
In my art, I explore forms and patterns in nature and the a symbol of the tree of life. This refers to the extension of
relationship between our society and the natural environ- our biological evolution into cultural evolution and the
ment. Inspiration for my work flows from the concept of feedback loops between those systems. The noösphere, our
the Biosphere, of living matter being inseparably connect- thinking capacity, is visualized on the left, where the phylo-
ed within the geological envelope of the earth. A related genetic web of life morphs into neurons, electronic compu-
concept is the Noösphere, or the conscious layer of life. ting pathways and miRNA’s. The evolution of data technol-
Vernadsky described the concept in 1945 as humanity’s ogies extends the noösphere into cyberspace and raises in-
influence on the biosphere as a consequence of its thinking teresting parallels between digital information and genetic
capacity. code. The field of generative data visualizations is explod-
All drawings for the cover have been carefully rendered ing. The “Facebook Tree” in the lower left was designed by
with pencil. I have drawn the elements separately, scanned Onformative. Its structure is generated through certain
them in high-resolution and digitally edited their size, color types of social network interactions4.
and composition in Photoshop. The final image exists only Finally, from the center of the bouquet arises meiosis, cell
as a digital construct, even though it originated from hand- division for gametes and sexual reproduction that is the
drawn elements. primary mode of vertical gene transfer of our type of spe-
In the center are variant renderings of the phylogenetic cies.
tree. I depicted a simplified version of the phylogenetic The cover image is available as an original digital print.
ring as proposed by David Hillis, Derrick Zwickl and Rob- Size is 43 x 33 cms, printed on archival BFK Rives paper,
in Gutell1. I also searched for a three-dimensional model, signed and numbered from an edition of 25.
in which the branches fan out at different heights according
to their depth in time, thus forming a cone. This construc- About the Artist
tion was modeled by Tal Dagan2. Another attractive dia-
gram of evolution was proposed by Eveline Kolijn is a Dutch-Canadian artist whose interest in
W. Ford Doolittle and depicts a reticulate network that the biological sciences and concern for the environment is
expresses the dynamics of lateral gene transfer3. I decided expressed through printmaking and sculptural installations
to use all of these models nested into each other, revolving made from found synthetic materials. Her interests were
around a vertical axis of DNA, because it is a key element encouraged by an international childhood spent in France,
in most theories of evolution. The reticulate model, placed
lowest, doesn’t have a single point of origin, because
knowledge on the origin of life is still nebulous.
Fanning from this cone, like an evolutionary floral ar- 1
http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/antisense/
rangement, are many ideas. On the left are soap bubbles downloadfilestol.html (accessed June 10, 2015)
that can create membranes due to their phospholipid struc- 2
T Dagan, Y Artzy-Randrup, W Martin. “Modular networks
ture. Vesicles could at some stage have enveloped RNA, and cumulative impact of lateral transfer in prokaryote ge-
creating the first proto-cell. The interesting question re- nome evolution.” Proceedings of the National Academy of
mains how genetic material became enveloped and what Sciences 105 (29), 2008,10039-10044
came first: membranes or RNA? From there on, single-
3
celled organisms and protozoa evolved and through endo- Ford Doolittle, W. “Uprooting the Tree of Life.” Scientific
symbiosis mitochondria were formed. This stage occurred American, February 2000. 90-95
4
before organisms absorbed photosynthesizing bacteria into http://www.onformative.com/work/4010-facebook-tree/
plastids, which are depicted in the upper right corner of the (accessed June19, 2015)
image.
Evol Biol (2016) 43
Venezuela, Belgium, the Dutch Antilles, the Netherlands er of Genome Research. She has presented on the relation-
and Australia. ship between art and science at an EMBO conference in
Natural history has always permeated her life. She grew Heidelberg in 2012. In 2013, she was an artist in residence
up in the Caribbean, where she and her family collected and at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of South-
corresponded on Caribbean shells, building an extensive ern California. She is currently an Extended Studies instruc-
and well-documented collection. In 2008, the collection tor at the Alberta College of Art +Design in Calgary and a
was donated to Naturalis, the museum of natural history in teacher for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Learning
5 through the Arts program.
Leiden, the Netherlands . A variety of ideas on evolution
influenced her upbringing as well. From books on this topic For more information and images of her art, visit
she absorbed images depicting visible and invisible life and www.evelinekolijn.com
connected them with the forms and patterns found on the
beach and in the sea.
Eveline received a Master’s degree in cultural anthro-
pology from the Rijks Universiteit Leiden, The Nether- http://www.biorepositories.org/collection/view/98
lands, in 1986. In 1997 she immigrated to Canada and be- (accessed June 10, 2015)
came a Canadian citizen in 2003. In 2008 she completed a Genome Research Vol. 25 No. 6, 2015
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Alberta College of Kolijn, Eveline. “Observation and Visualization: reflec-
Art and Design and was recipient of the Governor Gen- tions on the relationship between science, visual arts and
eral’s Academic medal. She has exhibited her art nationally the evolution of the scientific image.” Antonie van
and internationally. Her art has been published in various Leeuwenhoek, 2013, Springer Science + Business media
scientific publications, most recently on the June 2015 cov- Dordrecht. DOI 10.1007/s10482-013-9951-z