Major Driving Force Comes from How Organisms Cope With Errors at Cellular Level
ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2011) — Charles Darwin based his groundbreaking theory of natural selection on the realization that genetic variation among organisms is the key to evolution.
Some individuals are better adapted to a given environment than others, making them more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations. But exactly how nature creates variation in the first place still poses somewhat of a puzzle to evolutionary biologists.
Now, Joanna Masel, associate professor in the UA's department of ecology and evolutionary biology, and postdoctoral fellow Etienne Rajon discovered the ways organisms deal with mistakes that occur while the genetic code in their cells is being interpreted greatly influences their ability to adapt to new environmental conditions -- in other words, their ability to evolve.
"Evolution needs a playground in order to try things out," Masel said. "It's like in competitive business: New products and ideas have to be tested to see whether they can live up to the challenge."
The finding is reported in a paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
more
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110125172418.htm