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From the moment it first began to contemplate the world, three
questions have occupied the human mind: Where do we come from? What
are we? Where are we going? Artists (notably Paul Gauguin),
religious thinkers, philosophers, and most recently scientists have
all searched for answers. Here, the authors describe how scientists
decipher human origin from the record encrypted in the DNA and
protein molecules. After explaining the nature of descent and the
methods available for studying genealogical relationships, they
summarize the information revealed by the molecular archives about
the Tree of Life and our location on one of its branches. The
knowledge thus gleaned allows them to draw conclusions about our
identity, our place in the living world, our future, and the
ethical implications of the changed perspective.
One of this century's leading evolutionary biologists, Motoo Kimura
revolutionized the field with his random drift theory of molecular
evolution--the neutral theory--and his groundbreaking theoretical
work in population genetics. This volume collects 57 of Kimura's
most important papers and covers forty years of his diverse and
original contributions to our understanding of how genetic
variation affects evolutionary change.
Kimura's neutral theory, first presented in 1968, challenged the
notion that natural selection was the sole directive force in
evolution. Arguing that mutations and random drift account for
variations at the level of DNA and amino acids, Kimura advanced a
theory of evolutionary change that was strongly challenged at first
and that eventually earned the respect and interest of evolutionary
biologists throughout the world. This volume includes the seminal
papers on the neutral theory, as well as many others that cover
such topics as population structure, variable selection intensity,
the genetics of quantitative characters, inbreeding systems, and
reversibility of changes by random drift.
Background essays by Naoyuki Takahata examine Kimura's work in
relation to its effects and recent developments in each area.
Motoo Kimura revolutionized evolutionary biology with his random
drift theory of molecular evolution - the neutral theoryand his
groundbreaking theoretical work in population genetics. This volume
collects fifty-seven of Kimura's most important papers and covers
forty years of his diverse and original contributions to our
understanding of how genetic variation affects evolutionary change.
Kimura's neutral theory, first presented in 1968, challenged the
notion that natural selection was the sole directive force in
evolution. Arguing that mutations and random drift account for
variations at the level of DNA and amino acids, Kimura advanced a
theory of evolutionary change that was strongly challenged at first
and that eventually earned the respect and interest of evolutionary
biologists throughout the world. This volume includes the seminal
papers on the neutral theory, as well as many others that cover
such topics as population structure, variable selection intensity,
the genetics of quantitative characters, inbreeding systems, and
reversibility of changes by random drift. Background essays by
Naoyuki Takahata examine Kimura's work in relation to its effects
and recent developments in each area. This book will stand as a
valuable reference for students and professionals in evolutionary
biology for years to come.
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