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The Nearly Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution

The Nearly Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution For a long time the study of evolution has been based on morphology;the long neckof a giraffe, the human brain, a bird’s wing, and so on. Morphological changein evolution is explained by Darwin’stheory of natural selection, but this theory is largely qualitative rather than quantitative. Populationgenetics started morethan half a century ago as an attempt to understandevolutionary changequantitatively. Becauseevolution must take place in all individuals of a species, the changeof gene frequencyin the population has been analyzed. However, long as the facts of evolution are based on morphologicaltraits, so evolutionary change is very difficult to connect with gene frequency change except in relatively few circumstances. The remarkableprogress of molecularbiology has madeit possible to apply population genetics theory to real data. Wenowknow that genetic information is stored in linear sequences of DNA which are stably transmitted from generation to generation, and we can comparethe linear sequences of DNA and aminoacids among species. It is also possible to comparesecondary and tertiary structures of proteins and nucleic acids fromvarious sources. Becauseof such progress, someaspects of traditional neo-Darwinism are beginningto need revision. The first step in such a revision is the neutral mutation-random drift hypothesis put forward by Kimura(47) in 1968. In http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Annual Reviews

The Nearly Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution

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References (91)

Publisher
Annual Reviews
Copyright
Copyright 1992 Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
Subject
Review Articles
ISSN
0066-4162
DOI
10.1146/annurev.es.23.110192.001403
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

For a long time the study of evolution has been based on morphology;the long neckof a giraffe, the human brain, a bird’s wing, and so on. Morphological changein evolution is explained by Darwin’stheory of natural selection, but this theory is largely qualitative rather than quantitative. Populationgenetics started morethan half a century ago as an attempt to understandevolutionary changequantitatively. Becauseevolution must take place in all individuals of a species, the changeof gene frequencyin the population has been analyzed. However, long as the facts of evolution are based on morphologicaltraits, so evolutionary change is very difficult to connect with gene frequency change except in relatively few circumstances. The remarkableprogress of molecularbiology has madeit possible to apply population genetics theory to real data. Wenowknow that genetic information is stored in linear sequences of DNA which are stably transmitted from generation to generation, and we can comparethe linear sequences of DNA and aminoacids among species. It is also possible to comparesecondary and tertiary structures of proteins and nucleic acids fromvarious sources. Becauseof such progress, someaspects of traditional neo-Darwinism are beginningto need revision. The first step in such a revision is the neutral mutation-random drift hypothesis put forward by Kimura(47) in 1968. In

Journal

Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and SystematicsAnnual Reviews

Published: Nov 1, 1992

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