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Arrival of the Fittest: Solving Evolution's Greatest Puzzle

Page 32

by Andreas Wagner


  engrailed protein, 148–49

  environmental change

  adaptive solutions to, 11, 14–15

  fuel innovations, 85–87, 88

  gene activation or repression in response to, 141

  organism flexibility and robustness, 61–62, 85–86, 173–75, 188–94

  enzymes. See also proteins and amino acids

  function of, 22, 48, 62

  innovation and creation of novel enzymes, 111–12, 114

  in makeup of phenotype, 23

  optimal temperature for, 110

  as self-assembling macromolecules, 62–63

  error catastrophe, 45–46, 174

  Escherichia coli

  dissimilarity of strains, 80, 82

  gene regulation, 137–41, 166

  genome size, 29

  multiple glucose metabolisms, 97–98

  robustness to changing environments, 61–62, 84, 87, 188, 191, 192

  synthesis of essential biomass molecules, 61, 70, 97

  essentialism, 9–10, 34–35

  Eupodophis snake, 10

  evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology), 21–22

  evolution. See innovability and innovation; natural selection

  evolutionary science. See also Darwin, Charles

  additive nature of theories, 28

  algorithms in computational technology, 202–4

  evolutionary biology, 28

  evolutionary developmental biology, 21–22

  gradualist versus mutationist schools, 16–17, 19

  pre-Darwinian theories, 8

  theories counter to evolution, 8–10

  exaptation, 200

  expression of genes. See gene regulation and regulation circuits

  Falco peregrinus, 2–3

  fermentation, 22

  Ferrada, Evandro, 125–26

  fish

  antifreeze proteins, 107, 111, 179

  coelacanth, 28

  Fisher, R. A., 18, 218

  Freedman, Richard, 206

  fruit flies. See Drosophila melanogaster

  fuel innovations, 85–87, 88

  Galápagos Islands, 49–51

  Galilei, Galileo, 220

  Game of Life self-replication computer model, 217–18

  gene knockout technology, 171–73

  gene regulation and regulation circuits

  beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) expression, 138–41

  biological cost of gene expression, 140–41

  cascades of regulators, 144

  circuit equilibrium gene expression pattern, 146

  circuit library and genotype texts, 157–60

  complexity of, 142, 145–46, 150–51, 188

  in developmental biology, 142

  distalless expression, 154–55

  diversity of biological forms and functions, 137, 142–43, 147, 151–52

  in embryonic development, 147–50

  engrailed expression, 148–49

  expressed genes, 136

  genotype network, 164–68, 182–85

  Hox circuits, 152–54

  hypercube organization of circuit library, 159

  innovation and new expression codes, 142, 147, 152–56, 166–68

  KNOX expression, 156

  meaningful texts, 159–60

  mechanism of gene expression, 108, 136, 138–40

  multiplicity of regulators, 143–44

  mutations, 137, 161–62, 166, 168

  number of expression patterns, 160–61, 162

  polymerase transcription enzyme, 138–40

  regulated genes, 136

  repression or activation in response to environment, 141

  robustness, 174–75

  transcriptional regulators, 138–40

  genetics, Mendelian, 12–13

  genetics, population, 18–19

  gene transfer and gene deletion, 78–80, 92, 94

  genome, human, 29–30

  genomics, population, 30

  genotype networks

  disorder, 169–70, 175, 179, 186

  diversity of neighborhoods, 92, 102–5, 125–27, 129, 167

  hypercube organization of texts, 89–92, 115–16, 159

  mapping of, 34–35, 93–95, 97–101, 124, 126

  in metabolism, 92, 99–105, 125–27

  neutral change, 179–82

  organizational principles facilitating innovation, 94–95, 99–102, 125, 131–35, 170, 181–86

  parallels between biological and technological processes, 196–202, 212–16

  in proteins, 124–27, 131–35

  in regulation circuits, 164–68, 182–85

  robustness, 173–75, 194

  self-organization, 175–76, 194

  genotype versus phenotype, 13

  Gilfillan, S. Colum, 201

  glass lizard, 10

  globins, 112, 120–24

  Goldschmidt, Richard, 17

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 180, 200

  gradualist school of evolutionary biology, 16

  Hadean Eon, 38–39

  Haldane, J. B. S., 18, 39

  hammerhead ribozyme, 181–82

  Hay, Angela, 156

  Hayden, Eric, 132–34

  hemoglobin and globins, 112, 120–24

  heritability and inheritance

  blending of traits, 16

  fitness, 20

  Mendelian principles for, 12–13, 16

  on molecular level, 23–24

  in natural selection process, 4, 11, 42

  preservation of innovations, 11, 15

  Hersey, George, 206

  horizontal gene transfer and gene deletion, 78–80, 92, 94

  Hox (homeobox) circuits, 152–54

  Hoyle, Fred, 197

  Human Genome Project, 29–30

  humans

  alcohol tolerance, 27

  brain proteins and Alzheimer’s disease, 110

  duplicate enzymes, 189

  genome, 29–30

  ingenuity, 205–7

  lactose digestion, 136–37

  lens of eye, 177–78

  Mendelian traits, 13

  metabolic shortcomings, 77–78

  regulation circuits, 143–46, 149–50, 152–53

  Huxley, Julian, 19

  hydrothermal vents, 49–52, 55, 57

  hypercube representation of genotype networks, 89–92, 115–16, 159

  Ibn Khaldun, 8

  inheritance. See heritability and inheritance

  innovability and innovation. See also gene regulation and regulation circuits; metabolism; proteins and amino acids

  basic principles and themes, 66

  Cambrian explosion, 196

  combinatorial function, 66, 72–73, 75, 83, 102, 200–201

  conservation function of natural selection, 3, 5, 14–15, 176–79

  co-option of earlier innovations for new purposes, 153, 154, 178, 200

  through genotype networks, 92, 94–95, 99–102, 125, 131–35, 170, 181–86

  genotypic disorder, 169–70, 175, 179, 186

  heritability of innovations, 11, 15

  incremental steps, 3, 111–14, 117, 123–24, 161–62, 178–79

  multiple solutions to similar problems, 118–19, 170, 199

  neutral change, 179–82

  parallels between biological and technological innovation, 196–202, 212–16

  by populations of evolving organisms, 18–19, 77, 101–5, 117, 161, 175

  innovation, technological. See technological innovation

  insects

  aphids, 189–91

  butterflies, 154–55

  fruit flies, 27–28, 146, 147–51

  globin proteins of, 123–24

  peppered moth, 17–18

  interstellar space, organic molecules in, 40–41, 47, 56

  Isalan, Mark, 166

  Jacob, François, 137

  Johannsen, Wilhelm Ludvig, 13

  Johnson, Stephen, 199

  Keefe, Anthony, 118

&nb
sp; Kelvin, Lord (William Thomson), 197

  Kimura, Motoo, 180

  knockout technology, 171–73

  KNOX protein, 156

  Kreitman, Martin, 27–28

  Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, 69–70

  lactose digestion, 136–40

  Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste, 8

  Leydig cells, 149

  libraries of genotype texts. See genotype networks

  life, building blocks of, 59, 64–65, 69, 83–84, 101

  life, origin of

  autocatalysis and self-organization, 55, 62–63

  basic requirements and principles, 42, 66

  citric acid cycle, 53–54

  first microbes, 39, 52

  hydrothermal vents, 49–52, 55, 57

  interstellar organic molecules, 40–41, 47, 56

  lipid molecules and membranes, 55–57

  primordial soup/warm ponds hypothesis, 39–40, 48–49

  replication, 42–48

  single common ancestor of modern life, 10, 63–65

  spontaneous generation, 36–38

  tidal pool hypothesis, 49

  Linnaeus, Carl, 9–10

  lipid molecules and membranes, 55–57

  logic functions and logic gates, 207–15

  lysozyme protein, 173–74

  machine learning, 211–12

  mapping of genotype networks, 34–35, 93–95, 97–101, 124, 126

  Martin, Olivier, 163–64

  Marvell, Andrew, 4

  mathematics, 31–32, 180, 218–20

  Mayr, Ernst, 10

  meaning, phenotypic, 83–84, 116–17

  membranes, biological, 55–57

  Mendel, Gregor/Mendelism, 12–13, 16–17, 19

  Merton, Robert, 198

  metabolic information databases, 69–70, 117, 220–21

  metabolism

  autocatalysis, 54–55, 56, 66

  biomass building blocks, 59

  catalysts, 62–63, 69

  citric acid cycle, 53–54, 56, 60

  combinatorial innovation, 66, 72–73, 75, 83, 102

  diversity of metabolisms, 81–83

  energy storage, 64–65

  fuel innovations, 85–87, 88

  genotype networks with diverse neighborhoods, 92, 99–105, 124–27

  genotype-phenotype mapping, 93–95

  horizontal gene transfer and gene deletion, 78–81

  hypercube organization of genotype texts, 89–92

  innovations forming modern metabolisms, 58–59, 72–76

  list representation of genotype information, 70–71

  meaningful metabolisms, 71–72, 83–84

  mechanisms of innovation, 76–81, 92, 94, 101–2

  multiple metabolisms with same meaning, 100–102

  number and complexity of phenotypes and innovations, 71, 84–88

  origin in hydrothermal vents, 49–53, 55

  robustness and environmental change, 85–86, 173–75, 188, 191–94

  as series of chemical reactions, 23, 42, 53–54, 60–62, 69

  universal library concept, 67–69, 87–89

  viability, 83–85

  meteorites, 40–41, 47, 56

  Methanopyrus kandleri, 51

  microbes

  antibiotic resistance, 113, 192

  carbon fixation, 199

  chemosynthesis, 50

  diversity of metabolisms among closely related organisms, 81–83

  endosymbiotic mutualism, 190–91

  in extreme conditions, 51

  first life on earth, 39

  gene regulation in, 137–41, 166–67

  horizontal gene transfer and gene deletion, 78–81

  knockout experiments on, 171–72

  metabolization of toxins, 72–74

  nitrogen fixation, 122

  robustness and environmental change, 61–62, 188–89, 190–93

  Midoceanic Ridge, 51

  Miescher, Friedrich, 23

  Miller, Stanley, 39–40, 47

  modern synthesis, 19–22, 26–27, 218

  modular robots, 195, 210–11

  molecular biology, 25

  molecular evolutionary biology, 27

  Monod, Jacques, 137

  montmorillonite, 55, 57

  Morgan, Thomas Hunt, 21

  Murchison meteorite, 40–41, 56

  mutation

  DNA copying errors, 117, 120

  error catastrophe, 45–46, 174

  in evolutionary computation, 202–3, 213

  of gene regulators, 161–62

  genotypic alterations, 13–14

  in Hox genes, 153–54

  Mendelists on, 16–17

  in natural selection process, 4–5, 14, 202

  as nature’s trial and error, 84, 120, 196–97

  neutral change, 179–82

  in populations, 17–18, 137

  scientific study techniques, 34–35, 171–72

  silent mutations, 27–28

  specialization of duplicate genes, 189

  spontaneous mutations, 76–77

  mutationist (Mendelist) school of evolutionary biology, 16–17, 19

  Muybridge, Eadweard, 7

  Mycoplasma pneumoniae, 191

  natural selection

  conservation of innovations, 3, 5, 14–15, 176–79

  Darwin on, 1–2, 4–5, 11, 14

  heritability of adaptations, 4, 11, 42

  versus Mendelist theory, 16–17

  versus neutral change, 179–80

  in population genetics, 17–19

  Needham, John, 37

  networks of genotype texts. See genotype networks

  neutral change, 179–82

  nitrogen fixation, 122

  number theory, 180

  Ockham’s razor, 187

  Oparin, Alexander, 39

  opsins, 3–4, 112–13

  origin of life. See life, origin of

  Origin of Species, The (Darwin). See Darwin, Charles

  parsimony principle, 187

  Pasteur, Louis, 22, 37

  Pax6 protein, 143–46

  pentachlorophenol, 72–73

  peppered moth, 17–18

  peptide bonds, 205

  peptides, 115

  peregrine falcon, 2–3

  phenotype

  complexity of, 22, 31, 33–34, 37–38, 71, 84–88

  consistency despite genotypic change, 170–71, 174–75

  versus genotype, 13

  phenotypic meaning, 83–84, 116–17

 

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