Testing models for sex evolution and maintenance

这个项目旨在研究性别的进化。有性生殖的短期成本似乎大于其收益，使其广泛成功成为一个进化难题。该项目将测试一些备受瞩目的模型，这些模型预测，与适应良好的个体相比，适应环境较差的个体的性行为率更高。这一过程使性基因能够摆脱不利的遗传背景，并加速种群对其环境的局部适应。这项工作有望发现生殖模式与适应之间的联系，加强对环境变化后果的研究，并解决长期存在的进化生物学难题。

This project aims to study the evolution of sex. The short-term costs of sexual reproduction seem to outweigh its benefits, making its widespread success an evolutionary conundrum. The project will test high-profile models which predict higher rates of sex in individuals poorly adapted to their environment than in well adapted individuals. This process allows sex genes to escape from unfavourable genetic backgrounds and hastens local adaptation of populations to their environment. This work is expected to discover the link between reproductive mode and adaptation, strengthen research into consequences of environmental change, and solve a long-standing puzzle of evolutionary biology.