As Henry Louis Mencken once said “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.” Dawkins’ gene centric view is exactly that: clear, simple and wrong. In its place I suggested a phenotypic view of evolution in which phenotypes are viewed as creating new phenotypes with a transition equation describing […]
The phenotype as the center of Evolution
When I first learned about evolution I was taught that evolution was change in gene frequency. As I pointed out before this definition is inadequate, however, the gene frequency definition has the interesting property that evolution can be described in terms of deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg-Castle (HWC) equilibrium. For all its faults the HWC equilibrium […]
Defining phenotype
Having divided the formation of the phenotype into a patterning node and non-heritable nodes, I want to spend some time discussing what is and isn’t part of the phenotype. The phenotype is the interface of an object with its environment. Everything, even rocks, have a phenotype. It is probably useful to use a somewhat philosophical […]
Why genotypes are not just the sum of the genes
I want to continue with my theme that the patterning node is not just genotype, and that the genotype is not just genes. In particular, I want to talk about gene interaction, and why the genotype is not the sum of the genes. This is an area in which I am an active researcher (in […]
The Elements of the Phenotype
In the next several weeks I will expand on my thoughts about how I think about evolution. This week I will discuss my thoughts on the formation of the phenotype. In the following weeks I will talk about the forces of evolution and how these should be generalized away from the gene-centric view that currently […]
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