A History of Hypotheses on the Origin of Animals

Prof. Nicole King is an evolutionary biologist and geneticist whose research addresses animal origins and mechanisms underlying host-microbe interactions. To these ends, members of the King laboratory studies choanoflagellates, a fascinating group of organisms that are the closest living relatives of animals. Prof. King is a Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Development at the University of California, Berkeley and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She has been recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, and a Senior Fellow in the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.