Report on iTHEMS Intensive Course by Dr. Yoh Iwasa - Sex expression and sex allocation of marine organisms

This month, we hold 4-day intensive course of mathematical biology. This is especially for non-expert. On June 18th, Dr. Yoh Iwasa talked about various mysteries of sex.

For instance, anemonefishes (kumanomi, in Japanese) are male when they are born. As they get bigger, they become female. Interestingly, some coral reef fishes are opposite. As they get bigger, they become male. Why do they show such sex expressions?

Dr. Iwasa astonished us that various mysteries of sex can be resolved from the view point of game theory. According to him, “Anything related to sexual system can be quantified. In terms of the number of offspring, number of reproductive success, and other things. Success of the male depends on whether there are many more males or females. Obviously, this is the game theoretic view point.” During the lecture, the philosophy behind the mathematical modeling was explained in detail.

The lecture on Thursday was attended by more than 160 people through Zoom and Youtube. Dr. Iwasa answered all the uncountable questions from the audience. The wonderful intensive course continues.
- Gen Kurosawa