iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

New paper together with @svbelleghem.bsky.social & @aaronkiggen.bsky.social How do gene regulatory networks shape evolvability? We review findings from modelling and empirical work, and highlight opportunities for a closer integration between these fields. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

The study of evolvability in gene regulatory networks

Evolvability refers to the capacity of biological systems to generate heritable and adaptive phenotypic variation. Theoretical work has identified gen…

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

E. Yağmur Erten @yagmurerten.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Very excited about this special issue! Our goal is to bring together empirical and theoretical work across a wide range of “unusual” systems of aging. Sounds like a good fit? Consider submitting to our SI 🤩 Unsure? Feel free to contact us. And please spread the word!

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

#MeetOurMembers Today, we would like to introduce our Italian PhD student: Giorgio Boccarrella

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

#MeetOurMembers Today, we would like to introduce our PhD student, Kat Van der Poorten! Back in Belgium after traveling the world! She is an autistic evolutionary biologist intrigued by all things ‘language’. Follow her on Bluesky to learn more about her work: @kathetgedacht.bsky.social

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

#Meetourmembers Happy New Year! 🎉 Today, we would like to introduce our PhD candidate, Ronja Hulst! She came from Grunn with a smile :) Follow her on Bluesky to learn more about her work: @ronbaas.bsky.social

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Tom Wenseleers @twenseleers.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

A huge thank you to our secretary Conny Coeckelberghs and everyone from my team for the fantastic organisation - Viviana Di Pietro, Helena Mendes Ferreira, Anneline Mattens, @kdebeuckelaere.bsky.social and @anvandoren.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Tom Wenseleers @twenseleers.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

The @iussi-nwes.bsky.social that we organised this week in Leuven (18-19 December, www.iussi-nweurope.org/meetings) was a success! @rmash.bsky.social and @patrick-kennedy.bsky.social delivered fantastic keynote talks and there was a great set of contributed talks and posters.

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Tom Wenseleers @twenseleers.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Talk I gave about our recent Evolution Letters paper, in which we quantified the benefits of helping at the origin of eusociality using a combination of experiment & theory, at the @iussi-nwes.bsky.social winter meeting in Leuven this week! Powerpoint here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4w3hw...

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

@julietteluiselli.bsky.social et al. introduce a mathematical model of genome size evolution, showing that the noncoding fraction of the genome is shaped by biases in mutational neutrality, and robustness selection arising from structural mutations 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf315 #evobio #molbio

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

#meetourmembers! Today, we would like to introduce our PhD Student Alger Jorritsma! He is an 'oprjochte Fries'.

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Our team member Kat speaking to a diverse audience (including the rector of KU Leuven!) about the challenges of being an autistic researcher. @kathetgedacht.bsky.social @lavavzw.bsky.social

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Kat Van der Poorten (キャット) @kathetgedacht.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Forced sterilisation for disabled people? Still happening youtu.be/7ac_LxNHSOU?... @sara-rocha.bsky.social

youtu.be

Forced sterilization in Europe | DW Documentary

YouTube video by DW Documentary

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Trends in Genetics @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

"The evolutionary role of mutational robustness: theoretical insights" by Pieter van den Berg & co "Here, we categorize and critically discuss the main approaches for modeling the evolutionary causes and consequences of mutational robustness." FREE till Jan 18: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mBGtcQbJF...

Figure 1. Common approaches to modeling the relationship between genotype and phenotype (A,B) and phenotype and fitness (C,D) in models of mutational robustness evolution.

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

#meetourmembers! Today, we would like to introduce our newest labmate: Juliette. She joined us from France just last month! Add her on Bluesky to follow her work: @julietteluiselli.bsky.social !!

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

#paper How do organisms adapt to changing environments? Through plasticity, evolution, or a combination of both? Find out in our new paper by Alger Jorritsma, where we show which strategies evolve under different environmental conditions. @journal-evo.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

academic.oup.com

The evolution of plasticity and evolvability in a simple gene regulatory network

How do organisms adapt to changing environments? Do they respond plastically or evolve through genetic alterations? We present a large-scale simulation stu

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Reposted by Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg)

Ronja Hulst @ronbaas.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Excited to share our new review: The evolutionary role of mutational robustness: theoretical insights, in Trends in Genetics! Our review distils the main theoretical insights into when robustness evolves and how it shapes evolvability. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

The evolutionary role of mutational robustness: theoretical insights

Mutational robustness, the ensemble of mechanisms that allow organisms to maintain a stable phenotype despite genetic mutations, affects adaptive evol…

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

#Review: The evolutionary role of mutational robustness: theoretical insights in Trends in Genetics by @ronbaas.bsky.social We bring together results across models to clarify when robustness is favoured and how it influences a population’s capacity to evolve. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

The evolutionary role of mutational robustness: theoretical insights

Mutational robustness, the ensemble of mechanisms that allow organisms to maintain a stable phenotype despite genetic mutations, affects adaptive evol…

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Hi everyone! We are the Evolutionary Modelling Group! We are interested in many topics, from the evolution of microbial mutational robustness to the evolution of language and culture in humans. We rely on a variety of methods, both computational (evolutionary simulations) and mathematical.

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Evolutionary modelling group (PI: Piet van den Berg) @vandenberglab.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Hi I am Piet! Pi of the Evolutionary Modelling Group! Isn’t it just fascinating that we are all here because of evolution? If you feel the same, feel free to reach out to me to join our group!

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