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Volume 1, Issue 1

When theory meets genomics: reconciling game dynamics and within-host evolution Open Access

Abstract

Virulence is a context-dependent strategy, not a fixed trait. Building on Tonkin-Hill . ( 2025;10:1829–1840), a game-theoretical framework predicts when pathogens invest in immune evasion or shift to rapid replication under relaxed host pressures. Integrating genomics and evolutionary game theory explains paradoxes of attenuation, reframes pathogen–host dynamics as a strategic negotiation and offers predictive tools to guide interventions that steer microbial evolution towards less harmful outcomes.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): adaptive trade-offs , context-dependent virulence , game theory , host–pathogen negotiation , infection strategy , microbial evolution and predictive genomics
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Agricultural Research Service (Award 58-3022-1-018-F)
    • Principal Award Recipient: DamienF Meyer
© 2026 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2026-02-19
2026-03-08

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