Gene-centered view of evolution
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The gene-centric view of evolution or gene selection theory holds that natural selection acts at level of the gene, increasing the frequency of those genes whose phenotypic effects sucessfully promotes its own replication. This view is at odds with the view that selection acts at the level of higher units such as populations and species (group selection).
The view draws on the mathematical evolutionary biology of the early 20th Century developed by Ronald Fisher and others, and was expounded by George C. Williams. Its most notable later exponent was the British biologist W.D. Hamilton. Hamilton's friend Richard Dawkins popularized it in his book The Selfish Gene.
The gene-centric view is more abrangent than the classic individual-centric view. It explains not only those adaptations that promotes individual survival and reproduction, but also the adaptations that promote the survival and reproduction of relatives (kin selection) and intragenomic conflict.
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