Evolutionary Theory and the Origins of Life

Within the Origins of Life (OoL) field, scientists are making increasing use of evolutionary language to describe their systems. Simple chemical systems that are thought to capture plausible early stages of life are routinely described as ‘Darwinian’, ‘evolutionary’, or as showing ‘natural selection’ similarly to extant life. In this project, I investigate how – if at all – evolutionary theory can be applied to the pre-biological emergence and development of life. Understanding if and how this is possible requires answering a number of questions: How can contemporary evolutionary theory be applied beyond biology from the perspective of evolutionary theory itself? How should we conceptualize the pre-biological emergence and development of early life to which OoL researchers are supposedly able to apply (parts of) evolutionary theory? Do these applications make sense because each step in the origins of life simply was evolutionary? Or do these applications serve a more heuristic function, or are they merely metaphorical? For an overview of the current state of the field, see my recent review of these issues.

Scientific Controversy and Evolutionary Theory

The Theory of Evolution is one of our most successful scientific theories, but it is also one of our most dynamic ones. A defining period in its development has been the formulation of the Modern Synthesis framework, which came to dominate evolutionary biology. However, since the 1970s, there has been a complex and continuing scientific controversy about the status of the Modern Synthesis framework, and more generally about the structure and content of evolutionary theory. Currently, I am working on obtaining funding to provide the first unified account of this scientific controversy by focusing on the role played by different conceptions of scientific understanding in fueling the debate.

Philosophy of Synthetic Biology

My previous experimental work was focused on the functionalization of synthetic cell-like structures, particularly phospholipid vesicles and a variety of biomolecular condensates. While this experimental work now lies behind me, I maintain an interest in two philosophical topics related to this work: (1) the nature of definitions of life and their use in the life sciences, where I have previously defended a pragmatic view; (2) the nature of the experimental methodology of synthetic biology and molecular biology more generally, where I am currently investigating how biomolecular scientists combine in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experimental approaches in trying to understand biomolecular phenomena.

Other Interests

I have a wide range of topics in which I am interested. These include the history of analytic philosophy; the realism/anti-realism/pragmatism debate in philosophy generally and in philosophy of science in particular; the status of contemporary analytic metaphysics; the role of luck in scientific research and success; the role of models in science, and particularly in synthetic biology and Origins of Life research; and the history and significance of glass in science and thought (about which I hope to write a book one day).