Download or read book The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change written by Richard C. Lewontin and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume the author surveys the many experiments using new molecular techniques that have revealed the enormous wealth of hereditary variation among individuals and have quantified the genetic changes that take place in the origin of new species. Dr. Lewontin proposes new theories to attack the problems which still confront the scientist. While a tremendous amount of variation has been revealed, a satisfactory explanation of the origin and maintenance of such variation is still lacking. It is not at all clear whether adaptive evolution makes use of the kind of genetic diversity that is now known to be so common. Populatin genetic theory, Dr. Lewontin observes, leads to conflicting conclusions about the forces operating on the variation, and it appears that current theory is inadequate to cope with the data. Noting that the interaction among genes in evolution is of primary importance in the interpretation of genetic change, he urges that theory needs to be developed which takes into account the evolution of the genome as a whole rather than the independent evolution of each gene. A book which summarizes in an unusually felicitous way the findings of the rapidly growing science of molecular evolution and points out new directions for its future.
Download or read book Embryos Genes and Evolution written by Rudolf A. Raff and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change By R C Lewontin written by Richard C. Lewontin and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Embryos Genes and Evolution written by Rudolf A. Raff and published by . This book was released on with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Genetics of Adaptation written by Rodney Mauricio and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-07-20 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An enduring controversy in evolutionary biology is the genetic basis of adaptation. Darwin emphasized "many slight differences" as the ultimate source of variation to be acted upon by natural selection. In the early 1900’s, this view was opposed by "Mendelian geneticists", who emphasized the importance of "macromutations" in evolution. The Modern Synthesis resolved this controversy, concluding that mutations in genes of very small effect were responsible for adaptive evolution. A decade ago, Allen Orr and Jerry Coyne reexamined the evidence for this neo-Darwinian view and found that both the theoretical and empirical basis for it were weak. Orr and Coyne encouraged evolutionary biologists to reexamine this neglected question: what is the genetic basis of adaptive evolution? In this volume, a new generation of biologists have taken up this challenge. Using advances in both molecular genetic and statistical techniques, evolutionary geneticists have made considerable progress in this emerging field. In this volume, a diversity of examples from plant and animal studies provides valuable information for those interested in the genetics and evolution of complex traits.
Download or read book The Dialectical Biologist written by Richard Levins and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1987-03-15 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists act within a social context and from a philosophical perspective that is inherently political. Whether they realize it or not, scientists always choose sides. The Dialectical Biologist explores this political nature of scientific inquiry, advancing its argument within the framework of Marxist dialectic. These essays stress the concepts of continual change and codetermination between organism and environment, part and whole, structure and process, science and politics. Throughout, this book questions our accepted definitions and biases, showing the self-reflective nature of scientific activity within society.
Download or read book Introduction to Evolutionary Genomics written by Naruya Saitou and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-01-22 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first of its kind to explain the fundamentals of evolutionary genomics. The comprehensive coverage includes concise descriptions of a variety of genome organizations, a thorough discussion of the methods used, and a detailed review of genome sequence processing procedures. The opening chapters also provide the necessary basics for readers unfamiliar with evolutionary studies. Features: introduces the basics of molecular biology, DNA replication, mutation, phylogeny, neutral evolution, and natural selection; presents a brief evolutionary history of life from the primordial seas to the emergence of humans; describes the genomes of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, vertebrates, and humans; reviews methods for genome sequencing, phenotype data collection, homology searches and analysis, and phylogenetic tree and network building; discusses databases of genome sequences and related information, evolutionary distances, and population genomics; provides supplementary material at an associated website.
Download or read book The Genetic Basis of Evolution written by Theodosius Dobzhansky and published by . This book was released on 1950 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mutation Driven Evolution written by Masatoshi Nei and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this book is to present a new theory of mutation-driven evolution, which is based on recent advances in genomics and evolutionary developmental biology. This theory asserts that the driving force of evolution is mutation and natural selection is of secondary importance.
Download or read book Biology As Ideology written by Richard Lewontin and published by House of Anansi. This book was released on 1996-10-23 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: R. C. Lewontin is a prominent scientist -- a geneticist who teaches at Harvard -- yet he believes that we have placed science on a pedestal, treating it as an objective body of knowledge that transcends all other ways of knowing and all other endeavours. Lewontin writes in this collection of essays, which began their life as CBC Radio's Massey Lectures Series for 1990: "Scientists do not begin life as scientists, after all, but as social beings immersed in a family, a state, a productive structure, and they view nature through a lens that has been molded by their social experience... . Science, like the Church before it, is a supremely social institution, reflecting and reinforcing the dominant values and vices of society at each historical epoch." In Biology as Ideology Lewontin examines the false paths down which modern scientific ideology has led us. By admitting science's limitations, he helps us rediscover the richness of nature -- and appreciate the real value of science.
Download or read book Evolution in Four Dimensions revised edition written by Eva Jablonka and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-03-21 with total page 577 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneering proposal for a pluralistic extension of evolutionary theory, now updated to reflect the most recent research. This new edition of the widely read Evolution in Four Dimensions has been revised to reflect the spate of new discoveries in biology since the book was first published in 2005, offering corrections, an updated bibliography, and a substantial new chapter. Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb's pioneering argument proposes that there is more to heredity than genes. They describe four “dimensions” in heredity—four inheritance systems that play a role in evolution: genetic, epigenetic (or non-DNA cellular transmission of traits), behavioral, and symbolic (transmission through language and other forms of symbolic communication). These systems, they argue, can all provide variations on which natural selection can act. Jablonka and Lamb present a richer, more complex view of evolution than that offered by the gene-based Modern Synthesis, arguing that induced and acquired changes also play a role. Their lucid and accessible text is accompanied by artist-physician Anna Zeligowski's lively drawings, which humorously and effectively illustrate the authors' points. Each chapter ends with a dialogue in which the authors refine their arguments against the vigorous skepticism of the fictional “I.M.” (for Ipcha Mistabra—Aramaic for “the opposite conjecture”). The extensive new chapter, presented engagingly as a dialogue with I.M., updates the information on each of the four dimensions—with special attention to the epigenetic, where there has been an explosion of new research. Praise for the first edition “With courage and verve, and in a style accessible to general readers, Jablonka and Lamb lay out some of the exciting new pathways of Darwinian evolution that have been uncovered by contemporary research.” —Evelyn Fox Keller, MIT, author of Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines “In their beautifully written and impressively argued new book, Jablonka and Lamb show that the evidence from more than fifty years of molecular, behavioral and linguistic studies forces us to reevaluate our inherited understanding of evolution.” —Oren Harman, The New Republic “It is not only an enjoyable read, replete with ideas and facts of interest but it does the most valuable thing a book can do—it makes you think and reexamine your premises and long-held conclusions.” —Adam Wilkins, BioEssays
Download or read book Developmental Plasticity and Evolution written by Mary Jane West-Eberhard and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-03-13 with total page 815 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.
Download or read book Genetics and the Origin of Species written by Theodosius Dobzhansky and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book What Darwin Got Wrong written by Jerry Fodor and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2011-02-24 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, a distinguished philosopher and scientist working in tandem, reveal major flaws at the heart of Darwinian evolutionary theory. They do not deny Darwin's status as an outstanding scientist but question the inferences he drew from his observations. Combining the results of cutting-edge work in experimental biology with crystal-clear philosophical argument they mount a devastating critique of the central tenets of Darwin's account of the origin of species. The logic underlying natural selection is the survival of the fittest under changing environmental pressure. This logic, they argue, is mistaken. They back up the claim with evidence of what actually happens in nature. This is a rare achievement - the short book that is likely to make a great deal of difference to a very large subject. What Darwin Got Wrong will be controversial. The authors' arguments will reverberate through the scientific world. At the very least they will transform the debate about evolution.
Download or read book The Genetic basis of evolution written by Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky and published by . This book was released on 1953 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evolution and Genetics written by David John Merrell and published by . This book was released on 2012-07-01 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Phenotypic Plasticity Evolution written by David W. Pfennig and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-05-31 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phenotypic plasticity – the ability of an individual organism to alter its features in direct response to a change in its environment – is ubiquitous. Understanding how and why this phenomenon exists is crucial because it unites all levels of biological inquiry. This book brings together researchers who approach plasticity from diverse perspectives to explore new ideas and recent findings about the causes and consequences of plasticity. Contributors also discuss such controversial topics as how plasticity shapes ecological and evolutionary processes; whether specific plastic responses can be passed to offspring; and whether plasticity has left an important imprint on the history of life. Importantly, each chapter highlights key questions for future research. Drawing on numerous studies of plasticity in natural populations of plants and animals, this book aims to foster greater appreciation for this important, but frequently misunderstood phenomenon. Key Features Written in an accessible style with numerous illustrations, including many in color Reviews the history of the study of plasticity, including Darwin’s views Most chapters conclude with recommendations for future research
