Molecular drive
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Molecular drive as a third factor in co-evolution, has extended the understanding of evolutionary processes to refer to evolutionary interactions between and even within molecules in the field of molecular evolution. Examples may be found in the co-evolution between hormones and receptors.
The term "molecular coevolution" was coined by Gabriel A. Dover in 1982 [1] to explain the observed spread of novel genetic segments in populations, which shape the genomes and forms ("phenotypes") of organisms.
Dover is currently (2005), Research Fellow of the Leverhulme Trust and Professor of Genetics at the University of Leicester in England. Dover claims that there is a third force in evolution, operationally distinct from the familiar driving forces natural selection—which is actually the passive result of many vectors rather than a force in itself— and neutral drift; he termed it "molecular drive". According to Dover, it explains biological phenomena that natural selection and neutral drift alone cannot explain, such as the 700 copies of a ribosomal RNA gene and the origin of the 173 legs of the centipede.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Gabriel A. Dover, "Molecular drive : A cohesive mode of species evolution" in (1982) Nature 299: pp 111-7.
[edit] External links
- Steve Mack, "Could you explain Molecular drive?"
- Gert Korthof, "Molecular Drive: the Third Force in evolution", 2001
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