The Physics of Evolution

8-10 July 2019
The Francis Crick Institute, London
Organisers:
Bhavin Khatri, Ard Louis and Tom McLeish FRS

Purpose

Physics has been remarkably successful in describing emergent phenomenon in simple condensed matter systems through the theories of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics. The modern synthesis of evolutionary theory led by Fisher, Wright and Kimura has given rise to a quantitative understanding of how genes change in populations and to a number of successful statistical methods that infer evolutionary processes in natural populations. However, recent years have seen many physicists examine evolutionary theory from a physics perspective, mainly using analogies to statistical mechanical theories, and making major new contributions to our understanding of virus, microbial evolution and the structure of genotype-phenotype maps. Nonetheless, there are emergent properties of biological evolution that may have universal description, on which using methods from statistical physics could shed light. In particular, recent progress on dissipation, replication and memory in driven physical systems have pointed in possible directions for a physics-based theory of evolution. These ingredients will lead to a quantitative and predictive understanding of evolution, which will directly impinge on our ability to address important public health problems, such as antibiotic resistance and cancer evolution. The aim of this workshop is to bring together physicists, biologists and experimentalists working on different aspects of evolution and to help strengthen a community within the UK for "evolutionary physics", i.e. the physics of the phenomenon of biology and its evolution. By bringing together theoretical and empirical scientists, both physicists and biologists, we aim to foster this nascent field in the strong physics tradition of data-led and -inspired discovery.

Who should attend?

This workshop encourages participation of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and biologists working on evolution and clinicians working on diseases intimately related to evolution. A key aim of the workshop is to begin a dialogue with the community of physicists involved with developing physics-based theories of evolution and life. Anyone interested in this area of research is welcome to register.

Programme

The schedule for this event will be uploaded shortly. In the meantime, if you require further detail, please email: [email protected].
The workshop will be split into 4 sessions. Each session will use the following format; invited speaker(s) talks, contributed talks and session discussion.
Session 1: Evolution of pathogens and cancer – What are the common themes between the evolution of these diseases? Can we predict the progress of evolution of these diseases?
Confirmed invited session speakers:
Rosalind Allen, University of Edinburgh
Jamie Blundell, University of Cambridge "The Evolutionary Dynamics and Fitness Landscape of Somatic Mutations in our Blood"
Session 2: Emergence in genotype-phenotype maps – are there universal statistical properties to GP maps and can these be used to provide more quantitative predictions of the course of evolution?
Confirmed invited session speaker:
Session 2: Paulien Hogeweg, Utrecht University
Session 3: Non-equilibrium statistical physics of evolution: analogies and beyond – what is optimised in evolution?
What are the key elements of a non-equilibrium physics-theory of life? Can we predict the timescales for evolution of phenotypes at different scales?
Confirmed invited session speaker:
Session 3: Susanne Still, University of Hawaii “Thermodynamics of adaptive information processing”
Session 4: Experimental evolution – how do experiments constrain parameters of evolutionary theory, like abundance of beneficial mutations? What types of evolution experiments can provide an insight to a physics-theory of life?
Confirmed invited session speaker:
Session 4: Santiago Elena, Universitat de València & Santa Fe Institute “Experimental evolution of RNA viruses in fluctuating fitness landscapes”

Day 1	Monday 8 July
10.30	Registration with Tea and Coffee
10.50	Welcome from organisers
Session 1	Evolution of Pathogens and Cancer
11.00	Invited Talk: Jamie Blundell, University of Cambridge "The Evolutionary Dynamics and Fitness Landscape of Somatic Mutations in our Blood"
12.00	Contributed Talk: Anthony Webster, University of Oxford 'Multi-stage models of cancer and disease'
12.30	Lunch with Poster Session
14.00	Invited Talk: Rosalind Allen, University of Edinburgh, 'Phenotypic delay and its possible consequences for evolutionary dynamics'
15.00	Contributed Talk: Richard Bingham, University of York, 'Evolution through the lens of viruses'
15.30	Refreshment break
16.00	Contributed talk: Samra Turajlic, Institute of Cancer Research London, 'Principles of kidney cancer evolution'
16.30	Workshop discussion from session one
Day 2	Tuesday 9 July
Session 2	Emergence in genotype-phenotype maps – are there universal statistical properties to GP maps and can these be used to provide more quantitative predictions of the course of evolution?
9.00	Invited Talk: Paulien Hogeweg, Utrecht University, 'Evolution of coding structure and the shape and functionality of mutational neighborhoods'
10.00	Contributed Talk: Victor Jouffrey, University of Cambridge, 'Effect of Gene Duplication in Protein Self-Assembly GP-Map'
10.30	Contributed Talk: Zachary Ardern, Technical University of Munich, 'Gene birth and overprinting physicists needed for progress'
11.00	Refreshment Break
11.30	Contributed Talk: Sam Greenbury, Imperial College 'Inferring high-dimensional pathways of trait acquisition in evolution and disease'
12.00	Workshop discussion from Session Two
13.00	Lunch
Session 3	Non-equilibrium statistical physics of evolution: analogies and beyond
14.00	Invited Talk: Susanne Still, University of Hawaii “Thermodynamics of adaptive information processing”
15.00	Contributed Talk: Jacob Cook, Imperial Collge London, 'Evolution of complex systems: thermodynamics of switching in multistable systems'
15.30	Refreshment Break
16.00	Contributed Talk: Halim Kusumaatmaja, Durham University, 'Learning dynamical information from static ensemble data'
16.30	Workshop discussion from Session 3
17.30	End of Day 2
Day 3	Day 3: Wednesday 10 July
Session 4	Experimental evolution
9.00	Santiago Elena, Universitat de València & Santa Fe Institute “Experimental evolution of RNA viruses in fluctuating fitness landscapes”
10.00	Contributed Talk: Diego Simon, University de la republica Uruguay, 'Understanding evolutionary processes in viral populations through information theory and simulations'
10.30	Refreshment Break
11.00	Contributed Talk: Martin Sweatman, university of Edinburgh, The emerging physics of giant SALR clusters
11.30	Workshop discussion from Session four
12.30	Workshop Close

Registration and Abstract Submission

A £110 registration fee will be charged which includes lunches and refreshments. To register for this workshop please first complete the below online registration form and then make payment either via telephone or by direct bank transfer.
For telephone payment, please call: 0191 334 6912, quoting: 'Physics of Evolution' when making the payment.
For bank transfer, please email [email protected] for bank details.
Accommodation should be arranged separately. For any enquiries relating to this event, please email: [email protected].
Registration for this event has now closed.

Contributed Talks and Posters

Contributed talks and poster abstract submissions are welcomed. Submitted talk title and abstracts that are not selected as talks will automatically have the option to present a poster. Poster sizes can be up to standard A0 (118.9 x 841 mm / 46.8 x 33.1 inches) in portrait or landscape.
The deadline for talk abstract submission is June 12. The organisers will confirm contributed talks by June 17. Poster submissions can be made up until the date of registration deadline.

Directions

The meeting will take place at the Francis Crick Institute in London which is located near Kings Cross/St Pancras.
For details on how to get to the Crick, please follow this link: https://www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/visit-us