Beyond the gene.

Area of Science:

• Genetics and Molecular Biology
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• The classical definition of a gene faces challenges in contemporary biology.
• Disagreement persists among biologists regarding a unified gene concept.
• Emerging complex links between biological structure and functionality complicate existing paradigms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the definitional crisis surrounding the gene.
• To propose a novel conceptual framework for inheritance.
• To offer a richer, more expressive, and clearer alternative to the gene concept.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing challenges in gene definition.
• Conceptual development of an alternative framework.
• Comparison of the proposed framework with the classical genotype/phenotype model.

Main Results:

• Introduction of the
• genitor
• (genetic functor) as a proposed alternative.
• The
• genitor
• concept separates static inheritance from dynamic functionality.
• The proposed framework integrates complex structure-function relationships found in modern biology.

Conclusions:

• The
• genitor
• offers a more robust model for understanding inheritance.
• This new concept aligns with and clarifies recent biological discoveries.
• The
• genitor
• provides a clearer distinction between an organism's inherited state and its functional output.