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Author: Joram PIATIGORSKY
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2009-06-30
Total Pages: 337
ISBN-13: 0674042123
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In Gene Sharing and Evolution Piatigorsky explores the generality and implications of gene sharing throughout evolution and argues that most if not all proteins perform a variety of functions in the same and in different species, and that this is a fundamental necessity for evolution.
Author: J. Arvid Ågren
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2021-07-21
Total Pages: 257
ISBN-13: 0198862261
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"To many evolutionary biologists, the central challenge of their discipline is to explain adaptation, the appearance of design in the living world. With the theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin elegantly showed how a purely mechanistic process can achieve this striking feature of nature. Since then, the way many biologists have thought about evolution and natural selection is as a theory about individual organisms. Over a century later, a subtle but radical shift in perspective emerged with the gene's-eye view of evolution in which natural selection was conceptualized as a struggle between genes for replication and transmission to the next generation. This viewpoint culminated with the publication of The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Oxford University Press, 1976) and is now commonly referred to as selfish gene thinking. The gene's-eye view has subsequently played a central role in evolutionary biology, although it continues to attract controversy. The central aim of this accessible book is to show how the gene's-eye view differs from the traditional organismal account of evolution, trace its historical origins, clarify typical misunderstandings and, by using examples from contemporary experimental work, show why so many evolutionary biologists still consider it an indispensable heuristic. The book concludes by discussing how selfish gene thinking fits into ongoing debates in evolutionary biology, and what they tell us about the future of the gene's-eye view of evolution."--
Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: Sackler Colloquium
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 388
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.
Author: Katharina Dittmar
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2011-06-09
Total Pages: 350
ISBN-13: 1118148096
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Gene duplication has long been believed to have played a major role in the rise of biological novelty through evolution of new function and gene expression patterns. The first book to examine gene duplication across all levels of biological organization, Evolution after Gene Duplication presents a comprehensive picture of the mechanistic process by which gene duplication may have played a role in generating biodiversity. Key Features: Explores comparative genomics, genome evolution studies and analysis of multi-gene families such as Hox, globins, olfactory receptors and MHC (immune system) A complete post-genome treatment of the topic originally covered by Ohno's 1970 classic, this volume extends coverage to include the fate of associated regulatory pathways Taps the significant increase in multi-gene family data that has resulted from comparative genomics Comprehensive coverage that includes opposing theoretical viewpoints, comparative genomics data, theoretical and empirical evidence and the role of bioinformatics in the study of gene duplication This up-to-date overview of theory and mathematical models along with practical examples is suitable for scientists across various levels of biology as well as instructors and graduate students.
Author: Günter P. Wagner
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2018-07-10
Total Pages: 494
ISBN-13: 0691180679
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A major synthesis of homology, written by a top researcher in the field Homology—a similar trait shared by different species and derived from common ancestry, such as a seal's fin and a bird’s wing—is one of the most fundamental yet challenging concepts in evolutionary biology. This groundbreaking book provides the first mechanistically based theory of what homology is and how it arises in evolution. Günter Wagner, one of the preeminent researchers in the field, argues that homology, or character identity, can be explained through the historical continuity of character identity networks—that is, the gene regulatory networks that enable differential gene expression. He shows how character identity is independent of the form and function of the character itself because the same network can activate different effector genes and thus control the development of different shapes, sizes, and qualities of the character. Demonstrating how this theoretical model can provide a foundation for understanding the evolutionary origin of novel characters, Wagner applies it to the origin and evolution of specific systems, such as cell types; skin, hair, and feathers; limbs and digits; and flowers. The first major synthesis of homology to be published in decades, Homology, Genes, and Evolutionary Innovation reveals how a mechanistically based theory can serve as a unifying concept for any branch of science concerned with the structure and development of organisms, and how it can help explain major transitions in evolution and broad patterns of biological diversity.
Author: Jean-Nicolas Volff
Publisher: Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers
Published: 2007-01-01
Total Pages: 203
ISBN-13: 3805583400
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →"Our way of understanding evolution has changed completely with the era of genomics, particularly since the emergence of comparative genomics, a discipline allowing the analysis of complete genomes and biological processes over vast periods of time. In this volume, internationally recognized experts present and discuss an update of the evolutionary processes at the onset of organismal diversification and complexity, and review the mechanisms leading to the acquisition of new traits and functions. Different levels of evolution are considered, from internal modules in genes and proteins to interactomes and biological networks, with integration of the influence of both the genomic environment and the ecological context. Particular emphasis will be given to the origin of novel genes and gene functions as well as to the evolutionary impact of the duplication of genetic information, with several chapters devoted to transposable elements. Providing an excellent update on gene and protein evolution, this book will be appreciated by researchers in biology and medicine, biology teachers and anyone interested in evolution and genomics."--Publisher's description.
Author: Masatoshi Nei
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2013-05-02
Total Pages: 256
ISBN-13: 0191637823
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The purpose of this book is to present a new mechanistic theory of mutation-driven evolution based on recent advances in genomics and evolutionary developmental biology. The theory asserts, perhaps somewhat controversially, that the driving force behind evolution is mutation, with natural selection being of only secondary importance. The word 'mutation' is used to describe any kind of change in DNA such as nucleotide substitution, gene duplication/deletion, chromosomal change, and genome duplication. A brief history of the principal evolutionary theories (Darwinism, mutationism, neo-Darwinism, and neo-mutationism) that preceded the theory of mutation-driven evolution is also presented in the context of the last 150 years of research. However, the core of the book is concerned with recent studies of genomics and the molecular basis of phenotypic evolution, and their relevance to mutation-driven evolution. In contrast to neo-Darwinism, mutation-driven evolution is capable of explaining real examples of evolution such as the evolution of olfactory receptors, sex-determination in animals, and the general scheme of hybrid sterility. In this sense the theory proposed is more realistic than its predecessors, and gives a more logical explanation of various evolutionary events. Mutation-Driven Evolution is suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers (both empiricists and theoreticians) in the fields of molecular evolution and population genetics. It assumes that the readers are acquainted with basic knowledge of genetics and molecular biology.
Author: Nelson R. Cabej
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2011-11-22
Total Pages: 846
ISBN-13: 012415851X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This is the first and only book, so far, to deal with the causal basis of evolution from an epigenetic view. By revealing the epigenetic "user" of the "genetic toolkit", this book demonstrates the primacy of epigenetic mechanisms and epigenetic information in generating evolutionary novelties. The author convincingly supports his theory with a host of examples from the most varied fields of biology, by emphasizing changes in developmental pathways as the basic source of evolutionary change in metazoans. Original and thought provoking--a radically new theory that overcomes the present difficulties of the theory of evolution Is the first and only theory that uses epigenetic mechanisms and principles for explaining evolution of metazoans Takes an integrative approach and shows a wide range of learning
Author: Austin BURT
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2009-06-30
Total Pages: 613
ISBN-13: 0674029119
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Covering all species from yeast to humans, this is the first book to tell the story of selfish genetic elements that act narrowly to advance their own replication at the expense of the larger organism.
Author: Eva Jablonka
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2014-03-21
Total Pages: 577
ISBN-13: 0262525844
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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
