Strong segregation promotes self-destructive cooperation.

ABSTRACT: Self-destructive cooperators, which sacrifice themselves for others, challenge traditional group selection theory, as costs often exceed individual benefits. We predict self-destructive cooperators can persist in highly segregated environments where populations are primarily divided into homogenous groups originating from one or two founders. In such contexts, the benefits of self-destructive cooperators remain within homogeneous groups of self-destructive cooperators, preserving the sacrifice value and ensuring its maintenance. To validate our hypothesis, we employ a synthetic self-destructive cooperators-cheaters system and develop automated experiments to monitor and operate the subgroups with diverse growth behaviors due to strong segregation. Ultimately, we demonstrate self-destructiv

SUBMITTER: Wen L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11948997 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature