Quanta Magazine has a piece up audaciously titled Evolution’s Random Paths Lead to One Place. It’s basically a review of the research published in the paper Global epistasis makes adaptation predictable despite sequence-level stochasticity. There’s a lot packed into the title. Here’s the important bit from Quanta:
Many biologists argue that it would not, that chance mutations early in the evolutionary journey of a species will profoundly influence its fate. “If you replay the tape of life, you might have one initial mutation that takes you in a totally different direction,” Desai said, paraphrasing an idea first put forth by the biologist Stephen Jay Gould in the 1980s.
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The findings also suggest a disconnect between evolution at the genetic level and at the level of the whole organism. Genetic mutations occur mostly at random, yet the sum of these aimless changes somehow creates a predictable pattern. The distinction could prove valuable, as much genetics research has focused on the impact of mutations in individual genes. For example, researchers often ask how a single mutation might affect a microbe’s tolerance for toxins, or a human’s risk for a disease. But if Desai’s findings hold true in other organisms, they could suggest that it’s equally important to examine how large numbers of individual genetic changes work in concert over time.
There’s been a vogue of late for attacking the utility of mouse genetics for medical research. Perhaps studying flies, yeast, and bacteria to understand evolution is also misguided? Interesting research in any case.
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