Genes and environment: An old pair in a new era

According to Darwin, evolution is based on four processes: (i) there is variation in the population; (ii) this variation is heritable; (iii) there is competition between progeny with and without the variant(s); (iv) survival of the species and inheritance of the variation(s) are associated with successful outcome of the competition; these are not random processes [1]. In the Darwinian theory, in other words, the environment plays the role of an influencer, with natural selection being the ultimate shaper of future genetics, as Huxley proposed in his “Modern Evolutionary Synthesis”, but a full understanding of evolution must also consider non-selective forces, as well as the complexity of biology [1,2].
Source: Maturitas - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Opinion paper Source Type: research