Coordination and collaboration between biological systems is shaped over time by environmental pressures. Collaborations between scientists also evolve and grow in directions that would have been hard to predict from their outset. Sara Miller spoke with Felicia Basilicata and Claudia Keller Valsecchi about their long-term collaboration. The two started working together as postdocs and started their independent groups in Mainz, Germany and are now navigating continued collaboration after relocating to institutions in different cities.