Gene-centered view of evolution
| Part of a series on |
| Evolutionary biology |
|---|
|
The gene-centered view of evolution, gene's eye view, gene selection theory, or selfish gene theory holds that adaptive evolution occurs through the differential survival of competing genes, increasing the allele frequency of those alleles whose phenotypic trait effects successfully promote their own propagation.[1][2][3] The proponents of this viewpoint argue that, since heritable information is passed from generation to generation almost exclusively by DNA, natural selection and evolution are best considered from the perspective of genes.
Proponents of the gene-centered viewpoint argue that it permits understanding of diverse phenomena such as altruism and intragenomic conflict that are otherwise difficult to explain from an organism-centered viewpoint.[4][5] Some proponents claim that the gene-centered view is the aspect of evolutionary theory that is the most empirically validated, has the greatest predictive power, and has the broadest applicability.[6]
The gene-centered view of evolution is a synthesis of the theory of evolution by natural selection, the particulate inheritance theory, and the rejection of transmission of acquired characters.[7][8] It states that those alleles whose phenotypic effects successfully promote their own propagation will be favorably selected relative to their competitor alleles within the population. This process produces adaptations for the benefit of alleles that promote the reproductive success of the organism, or of other organisms containing the same allele (kin altruism and green-beard effects), or even its own propagation relative to the other genes within the same organism (selfish genes and intragenomic conflict).
Opponents of the gene-centered view argue that it is too narrowly focused on adaptation as the only important mechanism of evolution. Thus, it ignores the possibility that traits might be neutral and fixed by random genetic drift. It also ignores the possibility that some fixed traits might even be deleterious. Critics argue that proponents of the gene-centered view often favor an adaptationist perspective that assumes a role for natural selection as the null hypothesis.[9][10]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
selfishgenewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Haig, David (July 1, 2012). "The strategic gene". Biology & Philosophy. 27 (4): 461–479. doi:10.1007/s10539-012-9315-5. ISSN 0169-3867. S2CID 28597902.
- ^ Gardner, Andy (2016). "The Strategic Revolution". Cell. 166 (6): 1345–1348. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.08.033. hdl:10023/11635. PMID 27610556. S2CID 34023979.
- ^ Dawkins, Richard (January 1979). "Twelve Misunderstandings of Kin Selection". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 51 (2): 184–200. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1979.tb00682.x.
- ^ Ågren, J. Arvid (December 1, 2016). "Selfish genetic elements and the gene's-eye view of evolution". Current Zoology. 62 (6): 659–665. doi:10.1093/cz/zow102. ISSN 1674-5507. PMC 5804262. PMID 29491953.
- ^ Laland K, Uller T, Feldman M, Sterelny K, Müller GB, Moczek A, Jablonka E, Odling-Smee J, Wray GA, Hoekstra HE, Futuyma DJ, Lenski RE, Mackay T, Schluter D, Strassmann JE (2014). "Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?". Nature. 514 (7521). Nature Portfolio: 161–164. doi:10.1038/514161a.
- ^ Tiège, Alexis De; Tanghe, Koen B.; Braeckman, Johan; Peer, Yves Van de (2015). Life's dual nature: a way out of the impasse of the gene-centred 'versus' complex systems controversy on life. Springer, Cham. pp. 35–52. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19932-0_3. ISBN 9783319199313. S2CID 82619358.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Crow, James F. (February 15, 2001). "The beanbag lives on". Nature. 409 (6822): 771. Bibcode:2001Natur.409..771C. doi:10.1038/35057409. PMID 11236977. S2CID 205014199.
- ^ Stephen Jay Gould; Richard Lewontin (1979), "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 205 (1161): 581–598, Bibcode:1979RSPSB.205..581G, doi:10.1098/rspb.1979.0086, PMID 42062, S2CID 2129408
- ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (2002). The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-00613-3. LCCN 2001043556. OCLC 47869352.