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Hereditary stability and variation in evolution and development
Author(s) -
Thaler David S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
evolution and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.651
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1525-142X
pISSN - 1520-541X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1525-142x.1999.99011.x
Subject(s) - biology , lineage (genetic) , evolutionary biology , natural selection , mechanism (biology) , sequence (biology) , evolutionary developmental biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , genetics , gene , epistemology , philosophy , artificial intelligence , computer science
Evolution and development are both lineage processes but are often conceptualized as occurring by different and mutually exclusive mechanisms. It is conventionally asserted that evolution occurs via the random generation of diversity and the subsequent survival of those that pass selection. On the other hand, development is too often presented as proceeding via the unfolding of a deterministic program encoded in the DNA sequence. In biology, universal generalizations are rare and dogmas are often wrong for particular cases. Deterministic mechanisms contribute some of the new DNA sequences that subsequently become substrates for natural selection. Conversely, stochastic and selective mechanisms are intrinsic to development, and also to maintenance of the immune, and possibly, nervous systems. Cancer appears to be another process that straddles distinctions between evolutionary and developmental modes of hereditary change and stabilization. DNA sequence changes are an essential feature of many cancers, but there are also aspects of the disease similar to developmental lineage gone awry. The literature suggests that the cellular changes that give rise to cancer occur by mechanisms commonly associated with both evolutionary and developmental lineage pathways.