Magazine article
Unified theory of evolution: Environmental Epigenetics Allows a Lamarckian Concept to Facilitate Darwinian Evolution
Aeon
11/09/2016
Abstract
The unifying theme for much of modern biology is based on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the process of natural selection by which nature selects the fittest, best-adapted organisms to reproduce, multiply and survive. The process is also called adaptation, and traits most likely to help an individual survive are considered adaptive. As organisms change and new variants thrive, species emerge and evolve. In the 1850s, when Darwin described this engine of natural selection, the underlying molecular mechanisms were unknown. But over the past century, advances in genetics and molecular biology have outlined a modern, neo-Darwinian theory of how evolution works: DNA sequences randomly mutate, and organisms with the specific sequences best adapted to the environment multiply and prevail. Those are the species that dominate a niche, until the environment changes and the engine of evolution fires up again.
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Details
- Title
- Unified theory of evolution
- Creators
- Michael K Skinner (Author) - Washington State University, Biological Sciences, School of
- Publication Details
- Aeon
- Academic Unit
- Biological Sciences, School of
- Identifiers
- 99901084041401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Magazine article