BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Multicellular Organism, Rna Interference, Meiotic Drive
18 Oct 2018
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Evolution of complexity: how did complexity evolve: the major transitions in evolution, what does selection act on, evolution of genomic cooperation, genomic conflict. Lamarck"s view: all organisms have an inherent tendency to become more complex. Greater complexity arises from greater cooperation" amongst previously independent. Most phenotypic traits we study in organisms arose due to selection that increases the fitness of individuals: may or may not be good. E. g. sexual selection for showy coloration could be selected on, but may drive species to extinction because of higher predation. Traits that are good for the species but that reduce fitness of the individual cannot spread. Genes-eye view: genes as the ultimate unit of selection. They are in you and in me; they created us, body and mind; and their preservation is the ultimate rationale for our existence. They have come a long way, those replicators. Now they go by the name of genes, and we are their survival machines. richard dawkins.
