Mutation, Randomness, and Evolution (eBook)

Arlin Stoltzfus (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
304 Seiten
OUP Oxford (Verlag)
978-0-19-258296-6 (ISBN)

Infos

What does it mean to say that mutation is random? How does mutation influence evolution? Are mutations merely the raw material for selection to shape adaptations?The author draws on a detailed knowledge of mutational mechanisms to argue that the randomness doctrine is best understood, not as a fact-based conclusion, but as the premise of a neo-Darwinian research program focused on selection. The successes of this research program created a blind spot - in mathematical models and verbal theories of causation - that has stymied efforts to re-think the role of variation. However, recent theoretical and empirical work shows that mutational biases can anddo influence the course of evolution, including adaptive evolution, through a first come, first served mechanism. This thought-provoking book cuts through the conceptual tangle at the intersection of mutation, randomness, and evolution, offering a fresh, far-reaching, and testable view of the role of variation as a dispositional evolutionary factor. The arguments will be accessible to philosophers and historians with a serious interest in evolution, as well as to researchers and advanced students of evolution focused on molecules, microbes, evo-devo, and population genetics.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 22.4.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Informatik ► Weitere Themen ► Bioinformatik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Evolution
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Genetik / Molekularbiologie
• ISBN-10: 0-19-258296-8 / 0192582968
• ISBN-13: 978-0-19-258296-6 / 9780192582966