Professor Neil W. Blackstone
The history of life is a history of the elaboration of levels or units of evolution—molecules within cells, cells within cells, cells within organisms. At each transition, conflicts between the lower level units had to be mediated in order for the higher level unit to emerge. These mechanisms of conflict mediation may themselves have been innovations that subsequently provided the raw material for further evolution. For instance, mechanisms for mediating conflicts between mitochondria and host cells (e.g., within-cell signaling with calcium, redox state, and reactive oxygen species) were likely co-opted into mechanisms of development and conflict resolution in multicellular organisms (e.g., "second messenger" systems, between-cell redox signaling, and programmed cell death).
Course/Lab Information
Contact Us
Neil W. Blackstone
Biological Sciences
neilb@niu.edu
815-753-7899
MO 453
Education
- Ph.D., 1985, Yale University
- B.A., 1976, Harvard University