Origins of organismal complexity

The vast majority of biologists engaged in evolutionary studies interpret virtually every aspect of biodiversity in adaptive terms. This narrow view of evolution has become untenable in light of recent observations from genomic sequencing and population-genetic theory. Numerous aspects of genomic architecture, gene structure, and developmental pathways are difficult to explain without invoking the nonadaptive forces of genetic drift and mutation. In addition, emergent biological features such as complexity, modularity, and evolvability, all of which are current targets of considerable speculation, may be nothing more than indirect by-products of processes operating at lower levels of organization. These issues are examined in the context of the view that the origins of many aspects of biological diversity, from gene-structural embellishments to novelties at the phenotypic level, have roots in nonadaptive processes, with the population-genetic environment imposing strong directionality on the paths that are open to evolutionary exploitation.

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Although the basic theoretical foundation for understanding the mechanisms of evolution, the field of population genetics, has long been in place, the central significance of this framework is still occasionally questioned, as exemplified in this quote from Carroll, “Since the Modern Synthesis, most expositions of the evolutionary process have focused on microevolutionary mechanisms. Millions of biology students have been taught the view (from population genetics) that ‘evolution is change in gene frequencies.’ Isn't that an inspiring theme? This view forces the explanation toward mathematics and abstract descriptions of genes, and away from butterflies and zebras…. The evolution of form is the main drama of life's story, both as found in the fossil record and in the diversity of living species. So, let's teach that story. Instead of ‘change in gene frequencies,’ let's try ‘evolution of form is change in development’.” Even ignoring the fact that most species are unicellular and differentiated mainly by metabolic features, this statement illustrates two fundamental misunderstandings. Evolutionary biology is not a story-telling exercise, and the goal of population genetics is not to be inspiring, but to be explanatory. The roots of this contention are fourfold.

First, evolution is a population-genetic process governed by four fundamental forces. Darwin articulated one of those forces, the process of natural selection, for which an elaborate theory in terms of genotype frequencies now exists. The remaining three evolutionary forces are nonadaptive in the sense that they are not a function of the fitness properties of individuals: mutation is the ultimate source of variation on which natural selection acts, recombination assorts variation within and among chromosomes, and genetic drift ensures that gene frequencies will deviate a bit from generation to generation independent of other forces. Given the century of work devoted to the study of evolution, it is reasonable to conclude that these four broad classes encompass all of the fundamental forces of evolution. From Michael Lynch. PNAS May 15, 2007 vol. 104 no. Suppl 1 8597-8604.