Selfish Gene Confusion
Friday, July 10, 2009 - 17:28
in Biology & Nature
In light of the popularity of this piece, here are some things to keep in mind about 'selfish' genes: 1. The basic issue is about the unit of selection - does natural selection choose allele, individuals, populations, or species? The answer, like most things in biology, is yes, as Douglas Futuyma puts it in his standard textbook on evolution (p. 354. 3rd edition): If, then, our concept of levels of selection includes causality, natural selection can act at the level of the gene (as in meiotic drive), organism, and at least in principle, population and species. read more
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