Congratulations to Dr. Michael Sorenson for being featured in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal article.
Sorenson collaborated with a team consisting of Katherine Stryjewski of Harvard University, Jeffrey DaCosta of Boston College, Evan Kuras of BU Urban Program, and collaborators at Cambridge University and farms in Zambia’s Southern Province. Their work was featured in an article titled, “Genetic architecture facilitates then constrains adaption in a host-parasite coevolutionary arms race.” The paper discusses the inheritance of egg mimicry genes, referring to the shared behavior of egg mimicry of the parasitic European cuckoo finch. The European cuckoo targets various species by laying eggs similar to that of another species. By another species accepting these eggs, the cuckoo finch does not need to expend the additional energy required to hatch and look after its young.
Dr. Sorenson describes this phenomenon as an “escalating arms race” due to coevolution. As the cuckoo finch adapted the ability to produce eggs that are similar to other species, these species have become more vigilant at identifying and discarding foreign eggs.
To read more about the study, please click here.
Congratulations to Dr. Michael Sorenson and his collaborators!