Martyna Katarzyna Zwoińska

Data Steward, Karolinska Institutet

Evolutionary biology, genomics, data analysis and applied AI

About

I am a Data Steward at Karolinska Institutet with a background in evolutionary biology, experimental research, genomics and data analysis. My research experience has given me first-hand insight into how scientific data are generated, analysed and shared.

Research background

Over the years, I have worked on a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology. The areas below reflect the breadth of my research background.

Selected research projects

Adaptive response modes under environmental variability

In an ongoing project I ask how reproductive mode, especially selfing versus outcrossing, changes the adaptive responses populations evolve when the environment changes in different ways. My ambition is to combine empirical research with individual-based population-genetic simulations.

Adaptive response modes across cue reliability and between-generation environmental variability: reversible plasticity, developmental plasticity, bet-hedging, and continuous genetic adaptationEnlarge figure
Adaptive response modes across cue reliability and environmental variability. Modified from Botero et al. (2015), PNAS.

Learning and cognition

While it may not seem obvious, nematode worms from the genus Caenorhabditis can learn and form memories, and they do so with only 300 to 400 neurons. This interest began during my PhD under the supervision of Alexei A. Maklakov and became a recurring thread in my research, because who could resist the charm of roundworms that learn? In one of my later projects, I focused on learned pathogen avoidance, a behaviour that can be passed down across several generations.

The forms of learning documented in Caenorhabditis nematodes: habituation and sensitization, gustatory, olfactory, thermosensory and maze learning, and imprinting and transgenerational learning Enlarge figure
The many forms of learning documented in Caenorhabditis nematodes.

Sexually antagonistic selection

Working with Elina Immonen’s group, I investigated the conditions under which sexually antagonistic selection could preserve genetic variation and thereby generate balancing selection. This work addressed a broader gap in our understanding. We still know relatively little about the role of balancing selection in maintaining observed genetic polymorphism, or about the relative importance of the different mechanisms that can generate it.

Directions of experimental selection on male and female body mass in Callosobruchus seed beetles: small males, large males, large females, and sexually antagonistic selection Enlarge figure
Directions of experimental selection on male and female body mass in Callosobruchus seed beetles.

Publications & preprints

2026
Transgenerational inheritance is variable across Caenorhabditis worms
Zwoińska M. K., Widjaja A. N., Lind M. I., Akgül A. D., Altan A. S., Aydın D., Çukurbağlı D., Venkataramani A. G., Renhuldt N. T., Chen H.-y. bioRxivPreprint
2026
From constraint to opportunity: Relaxing sexual antagonism reveals adaptive potential maintained by balancing selection
Zwoińska M. K., Wiberg R. A. W., Trabert M., Kaufmann P., Immonen E. bioRxivPreprint
2026
A century of theories of balancing selection
Ruzicka F., Zwoińska M. K., Goedert D., Kokko H., et al. Biological Reviews 101(2):804–825
2025
Nematode mind: exploring the role of the RNA interference pathway in learning, memory and beyond
Zwoińska M. K., Paida V., Chen H.-y., Darkes L., Lind M. I. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 380(1929):20240125
2025
Sex-biased gene expression under sexually antagonistic and sex-limited selection
Wiberg R. A. W., Zwoińska M. K., Kaufmann P., Howie J. M., Immonen E. Molecular Biology and Evolution 42(8):msaf178
2025
Predicting the prevalence of genetic trade-offs among adaptive substitutions
Connallon T., Czuppon P., Olito C., Goedert D., Kokko H., …, Zwoińska M. K., et al. Evolution 79(7):1243–1255
Show earlier publications Show fewer publications
2024
Heat stress reveals a fertility debt owing to postcopulatory sexual selection
Baur J., Zwoińska M. K., Koppik M., Snook R. R., Berger D. Evolution Letters 8(1):101–113
2022
The genetic basis and adult reproductive consequences of developmental thermal plasticity
Rodrigues L. R., Zwoińska M. K., Wiberg R. A. W., Snook R. R. Journal of Animal Ecology 91(6):1119–1134
2020–21
Parental leave (full- and part-time)
2020
Environmental variation mediates the evolution of anticipatory parental effects
Lind M. I., Zwoińska M. K., Andersson J., Carlsson H., Krieg T., Larva T., Maklakov A. A. Evolution Letters 4(4):371–381
2020
Artificial selection for increased dispersal results in lower fitness
Zwoińska M. K., Larva T., Sekajova Z., Carlsson H., Meurling S., Maklakov A. A. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 33(2):217–224
2020
Phenotypic responses to and genetic architecture of sterility following exposure to sub-lethal temperature during development
Zwoińska M. K., Rodrigues L. R., Slate J., Snook R. R. Frontiers in Genetics 11:573
2017
Experimental evolution of slowed cognitive aging in Drosophila melanogaster
Zwoińska M. K., Maklakov A. A., Kawecki T. J., Hollis B. Evolution 71(3):662–670
2017
Slow development as an evolutionary cost of long life
Lind M. I., …, Zwoińska M. K., …, Maklakov A. A. Functional Ecology 31(6):1252–1261
2016–17
Parental leave (full- and part-time)
2016
Selection on learning performance results in the correlated evolution of sexual dimorphism in life history
Zwoińska M. K., Lind M. I., Cortazar-Chinarro M., Ramsden M., Maklakov A. A. Evolution 70(2):342–357
2016
Sex-specific trade-offs with growth and fitness following life-span extension by rapamycin in an outcrossing nematode, Caenorhabditis remanei
Lind M. I., Zwoińska M. K., Meurling S., Carlsson H., Maklakov A. A. Journals of Gerontology: Series A 71(7):882
2014
Sexual conflict: male control of female longevity
Zwoińska M. K., Lind M. I., Maklakov A. A. Current Biology 24(5):R196–R198
2013
Sex differences in cognitive ageing: testing predictions derived from life-history theory in a dioecious nematode
Zwoińska M. K., Kolm N., Maklakov A. A. Experimental Gerontology 48(12):1469–1472
All publications on Google Scholar ORCID record

Collaborators

Students

  • Adithya Ganesh Venkataramani
    MSc Uppsala University
    Defended June 2025
  • Gaurav Shobinath
    MSc Uppsala University
    Defended June 2026

Beyond Research

The Game of Worms

A browser game inspired by nematode biology, with creative input from my children.

Play The Game of Worms
Play

Contact

Karolinska Institutet
University Library
Berzelius väg 7B
171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

Karolinska Institutet profile Uppsala University profile
LinkedIn Google Scholar
ORCID ResearchGate Bluesky