NeoDarwinian Review

Genome duplication, the process by which an organism's entire genetic material is copied, stands as a powerful force in evolutionary history, significantly influencing the emergence of complexity and diversity. This phenomenon, often referred to as polyploidy , provides a rich source of raw material for evolutionary innovation, challenging traditional neo-Darwinian perspectives and highlighting the critical role of epigenetics in shaping evolutionary trajectories. Traditionally, neo-Darwinism emphasizes gradual change through random mutations and natural selection acting on individual genes. This framework struggles to fully account for the rapid and profound evolutionary shifts observed in organisms that have undergone genome duplication. The sudden doubling of the entire genome provides an abundant supply of redundant genes, offering a unique opportunity for development experimentation. These duplicated genes, freed from their original essential functions, can ac...

With all the new developments in genetics and especially epigenetics, I sometimes feel I practiced medicine with leeches for 30 years.  Advances in medicine have disproved the "practice" of leeches; maybe older evolutionary "practices" will also be disproved. In June 2022, Nature journal published an article called "Synonymous mutations in representative yeast genes are mostly strongly non-neutral."  The authors claimed that 60 years of neo-darwinism, aka the modern synthesis, is challenged by declaring that most “silent” (synonymous) mutations were not neutral but harmful. The discovery of the genetic code in 1961 noted DNA had four nucleotides coding for only 20 amino acids that make up proteins.  Three-letter DNA units called "codons" code each of the 20 amino acids. DNA has 64 (3^4) codon combinations for 20 amino acids.  Figure codon table Why was this the case? Why a "redundant" 64 to 20 "code?" F...

" The summary of the state of affairs on the 150th anniversary of the Origin is somewhat shocking: in the post-genomic era, all major tenets of the Modern Synthesis fthe theory of evolution) are, if not outright overturned replaced by a new and incomparably more complex vision of the key aspects of evolution (EES). So, not to mince words , the Modern Synthesis is gone" -Eugene Koonin, an evolutionary biologist (Cited by over 270,000 evolutionary scientists.) The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) represents a significant departure from the traditional neo-Darwinian framework, also known as the Modern Synthesis . While both theories aim to explain evolutionary change, they differ fundamentally in their underlying mechanisms and the roles they assign to various biological processes. A crucial point of divergence lies in the interpretation and application of the term " evolutionary ," particularly concerning the incorporation of epigenetic mechanisms....