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Evolvability

M Kirschner1, J Gerhart

  • 1Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. marc@hms.harvard.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|July 22, 1998
PubMed
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Organisms evolve by generating heritable variations. Key properties like flexibility and robustness in developmental and physiological processes enhance this evolvability, enabling diversification.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Developmental biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Metazoan evolution shows significant diversification despite conserved core processes.
  • Diversification arises from regulatory evolution controlling conserved genetic, cellular, and developmental mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the concept of evolvability in metazoans.
  • To identify properties that confer robustness, flexibility, and evolvability.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of evolutionary and developmental processes.
  • Examination of conserved core processes and their regulatory mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • Evolvability is the capacity for heritable phenotypic variation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Properties like versatile proteins, weak linkage, and compartmentation reduce interdependence and increase robustness.
  • These properties facilitate nonlethal variation accumulation, enhancing evolvability.

    • Conclusions:

    • Evolvability may be a general outcome of selection for robust, flexible biological systems.
    • Specific selection pressures, such as repeated radiations, can further drive evolvability.