Development and Evolution Revisited

Ho, Mae‐Wan

doi:10.1002/9781444327632.ch4

Cited by 38 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Also, no one has denied that the MET has numerous contradictions or has defended the interpretation of the maximum genetic equidistance result by the MET. Second, there are published papers that agree with our ideas and cite our papers [39]. Third, questions about the definitions of complexity are common; our views on the subject are detailed above.…”

Section: Reactions To the Mgd Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 55%

The genetic equidistance result: misreading by the molecular clock and neutral theory and reinterpretation nearly half of a century later

Long

Yuan

et al. 2013

Sci. China Life Sci.

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In 1963, Margoliash discovered the unexpected genetic equidistance result after comparing cytochrome c sequences from different species. This finding, together with the hemoglobin analyses of Zuckerkandl and Pauling in 1962, directly inspired the ad hoc molecular clock hypothesis. Unfortunately, however, many biologists have since mistakenly viewed the molecular clock as a genuine reality, which in turn inspired Kimura, King, and Jukes to propose the neutral theory of molecular evolution. Many years of studies have found numerous contradictions to the theory, and few today believe in a universal constant clock. What is being neglected, however, is that the failure of the molecular clock hypothesis has left the original equidistance result an unsolved mystery. In recent years, we fortuitously rediscovered the equidistance result, which remains unknown to nearly all researchers. Incorporating the proven virtues of existing evolutionary theories and introducing the novel concept of maximum genetic diversity, we proposed a more complete hypothesis of evolutionary genetics and reinterpreted the equidistance result and other major evolutionary phenomena. The hypothesis may rewrite molecular phylogeny and population genetics and solve major biomedical problems that challenge the existing framework of evolutionary biology. genetic equidistance, overlap feature, evolution, molecular clock, neutral theory, maximum genetic diversity hypothesis, microevolution, macroevolution Citation:Hu T B, Long M P, Yuan D J, et al. The genetic equidistance result: misreading by the molecular clock and neutral theory and reinterpretation nearly half of a century later. Sci China Life Sci, 2013Sci, , 56: 254 -261, doi: 10.1007 Among the most interesting phenomena in biology are reproduction, heredity, and evolution. Biological evolution includes both phenotypes and molecules, which are modeled by the theory of natural selection and the neutral theory, respectively. Together, the two make up the modern evolutionary theory (MET). The neutral theory was proposed by Kimura, Jukes, and King to explain the observation that molecules evolved at a steady, clock-like rate [1,2]. But is the molecular clock a genuine universal phenomenon?1 A brief history of the molecular clock hypothesis and the neutral theory: how the molecular clock replaced the genetic equidistance phenomenonGenetic distance is a measure of molecular differences between species and is represented by the percentage differ-

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Section: Reactions To the Mgd Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 55%

The genetic equidistance result: misreading by the molecular clock and neutral theory and reinterpretation nearly half of a century later

Long

Yuan

et al. 2013

Sci. China Life Sci.

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“…In reality, the organism shapes its own development and evolutionary future; that is why it is so important to take responsible action (see Figure 1) [25]. Indeed, new findings on the fluidity and responsiveness of the genome have made the hazards of genetically modified DNA and RNA even greater than anyone has envisaged, as I shall elaborate in this review.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

The New Genetics and Natural versus Artificial Genetic Modification

Ho¹

2013

Entropy

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Abstract:The original rationale and impetus for artificial genetic modification was the "central dogma" of molecular biology that assumed DNA carries all the instructions for making an organism, which are transmitted via RNA to protein to biological function in linear causal chains. This is contrary to the reality of the "fluid genome" that has emerged since the mid-1970s. In order to survive, the organism needs to engage in natural genetic modification in real time, an exquisitely precise molecular dance of life with RNA and DNA responding to and participating in "downstream" biological functions. Artificial genetic modification, in contrast, is crude, imprecise, and interferes with the natural process. It drives natural systems towards maximum biosemiotic entropy as the perturbations are propagated and amplified through the complex cascades of interactions between subsystems that are essential for health and longevity.

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“…This demonstrates that the dynamics of self-organization delimit the combinatorial possibilities available to a developing system [Edelmann & Denton, 2007;Ho, 2010;Lickliter, 2008;Saunders, 1984]. In other words, restrictions on what kinds of organized forms in biology can and do exist spring from the very activity of developmental processes, reflecting the developmental principles that govern how organisms develop in context [e.g., Alberch, 1982;Thompson, 1942].…”

Section: Edp and Ds As Ontologically Incompatiblementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under the auspices of pre-Darwinian evolutionary thought, however, natural selection operated solely to weed out phenotypic variation, with the real motor of evolutionary change inhering in the transformative powers of organismic development [Gould, 2002;Ho, 2010]. The significance of Darwin's conceptualization was to elevate natural selection from this negative role to " the creative force of evolutionary change ," establishing it as a " positive force" behind the construction of organized complexity [Gould, 2002, p. 139;Ho, 2010;Sober, 1984]. This elevation, however, arrived entirely at ontogeny's expense.…”

Section: Natural Selection Individual-and Population-level Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Development and Evolution in Psychological Science: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology, Developmental Systems, and Explanatory Pluralism

Witherington

Lickliter

2016

Human Development

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New attempts in psychological science at integrating developmental (individual-level) and evolutionary (population-level) accounts of phenotypic stability and variability have achieved increasing prominence of late. Foremost among such attempts is the field of evolutionary developmental psychology (EDP). EDP proposes that selective pressures in evolution inform psychological development through a synthesis of the Darwinian/neo-Darwinian selectionist perspective embraced by evolutionary psychology and the developmental dynamics perspective endorsed by developmental systems theory. We examine the theoretical assumptions behind selectionist and developmental perspectives and argue that both perspectives are ontologically incompatible. We provide an alternative framework for integrating developmental and evolutionary explanations that transcend this ontological division of selectional and developmental perspectives. This framework promotes a pluralistic approach that moves beyond traditional antecedent/consequent, mechanistic views of causality and embraces both functional (part-to-whole) and structural (whole-to-part) modes of explanation as distinct, equally legitimate, and simultaneously applicable perspectives in understanding phenotypic stability and variability over time.

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Development and Evolution Revisited

Abstract: In the new holistic perspective, epigenetics mediates between the psychosocial and biological realms, and holds the key to how we can shape our own development and future evolution.

Cited by 38 publications

References 66 publications

The genetic equidistance result: misreading by the molecular clock and neutral theory and reinterpretation nearly half of a century later

The genetic equidistance result: misreading by the molecular clock and neutral theory and reinterpretation nearly half of a century later

The New Genetics and Natural versus Artificial Genetic Modification

Integrating Development and Evolution in Psychological Science: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology, Developmental Systems, and Explanatory Pluralism

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