Forty-five years of progress after a key paper about the evolution of cooperation

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Article PubMed Google Scholar Maynard Smith, J. & Price, G. Article PubMed Google Scholar Rapoport, A. & Chammah, A. Google Scholar Hammerstein, P. in Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Cooperation (ed. News 11 MAR 26 Jobs Open Rank Faculty Position in Engineering - School of Science and Engineering The School of Science and Engineering (SSE) at theCUHK-Shenzhen sincerely invites applications for Tenure/Teaching/Research Stream faculty positions Shenzhen, China The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen - School of Science and Engineering Open Rank Faculty Position in Science - School of Science and Engineering The School of Science and Engineering (SSE) at theCUHK-Shenzhen sincerely invites applications for Tenure/Teaching/Research Stream faculty positions Shenzhen, China The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen - School of Science and Engineering Global Recruitment for Faculty, Postdocs, and Specialists at Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, CAS Seeking exceptional Senior/Junior PIs, Postdocs, and Core Specialists globally year-round Hangzhou, China Hangzhou Institute of Medicine Chinese Academy of Sciences (HIMCAS) Faculty Positions in School of Engineering, Westlake University The School of Engineering at Westlake University is seeking to fill multiple tenured or tenure-track faculty positions in all ranks.

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Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists studying evolution have grappled with how cooperative behaviours that are costly to an individual but beneficial to others can be consistent with maximal fitness. In 1981,
writing in
Science
, Robert Axelrod and William D. Hamilton
1
presented key findings on how such cooperation can evolve. They accomplished this by weaving together two emerging ideas of the time in this area of research.
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Nature
651
, 894-895 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00802-7
References
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Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Ehrlich obituary: pioneering ecologist who caused controversy by predicting a ‘population bomb’ Obituary 20 MAR 26 Local agricultural transition, crisis and migration in the Southern Andes Article 18 MAR 26 Adaptive evolution of gene regulatory networks in mammalian neocortex Article 18 MAR 26 AI set to map risks of future climate disasters World View 18 MAR 26 Knock knock, no one’s there.

### Areas for Consideration
- Ehrlich obituary: pioneering ecologist who caused controversy by predicting a ‘population bomb’ Obituary 20 MAR 26 Local agricultural transition, crisis and migration in the Southern Andes Article 18 MAR 26 Adaptive evolution of gene regulatory networks in mammalian neocortex Article 18 MAR 26 AI set to map risks of future climate disasters World View 18 MAR 26 Knock knock, no one’s there.

### Implications
- Go to natureasia.com Rent or buy this article Prices vary by article type from $1.95 to $39.95 Learn more Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Nature 651 , 894-895 (2026) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00802-7 References Axelrod, R. & Hamilton, W.
- Ehrlich obituary: pioneering ecologist who caused controversy by predicting a ‘population bomb’ Obituary 20 MAR 26 Local agricultural transition, crisis and migration in the Southern Andes Article 18 MAR 26 Adaptive evolution of gene regulatory networks in mammalian neocortex Article 18 MAR 26 AI set to map risks of future climate disasters World View 18 MAR 26 Knock knock, no one’s there.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers article, google, scholar topics. Notable strengths include discussion of article. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 764.