Some, whose focus arises mostly from the molecular revolution, argue that the core of the evolutionary process lies in the competition among genes for representation in the next generation; Dawkins' (1976) notion of the "selfish gene" is perhaps the best known form of this argument.
Quite in contrast, the mutational writing phenotype discussed here evolves along with the evolution of adaptation and is therefore specific to the evolutionary times, and is part of the core of the evolutionary process, not an "add-on" on top of it.
It is regarded as one of the main publications which formed the core of the modern evolutionary synthesis and still provides the conceptual framework for research in plant evolutionary biology; according to Ernst Mayr, "Few later works dealing with the evolutionary systematics of plants have not been very deeply affected by Stebbins' work".
Thus, in distinction from selection on separate genetic effects and the supposed chance formation of the basis for beneficial genetic interactions by random genetic drift, we still do not have a theory for how selection on genetic interactions can be at the core of the adaptive evolutionary process.
The trade-off between the rate of functioning of the metabolic machinery and oxidative stress lies at the very core of some of the evolutionary theories of aging [1], [3], [17], [18], as individuals with a high production of oxidative substances are expected to be trading current investment in fitness traits against residual reproductive value.
In the next chapter (A Brief History of the Brain) he presents the core of his evolutionary argument for the brain as biological computer.
When they are speaking of the theoretical core of modern evolutionary biology, scientists tend to use the phrase "the synthetic theory of evolution" to refer to the augmentation of Darwin's natural selection theory with Mendelian genetics in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by the development in the 1940s and 1950s of mathematical systems allowing the modeling of evolution in populations.
In the classic synthetic theory of evolution, which is the core of the mainstream version of evolutionary thinking, selection is the only truly causal factor, which gives direction to evolutionary change.
Comparison of four available fic domain-containing hypothetical protein structures reveals a common fold topology that contributes to the evolutionary core of the domain (Figure 1A).
This sort of careful, methodological analysis of population genetics, the mathematical core of conventional evolutionary theory, continues to give rise to interesting results (Pigliucci and Kaplan 2006; Okasha 2007).
This cycle of repeated mutation and selection of the gene variants via the phenotypes they generate is at the core of evolutionary theory.
