Michod, Richard E. “Cooperation and conflict in the evolution of individuality. II. Conflict mediation.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 263, no. 1372 (1996): 813-822.
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Evolutionary transitions in the units of selection require the promotion of cooperation and the regulation of conflict among the lower level units. For multicellular organisms to emerge as a new unit of selection, the selfish tendencies of their component cells had to be controlled. Theoretical results indicate organisms may regulate this internal conflict and competition in several ways: by reducing the somatic mutation rate, by sequestering cells in a germ line and by directly reducing the benefits to cells of defecting.