There are serious problems with the view of evolution that was developed in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Stephen Buranyi. The article doesn't give an accurate or unbiased account, making statements such as "the theory dictated that, ultimately, genes built everything" and implying that authority figures in the field imposed a "party line" According to Buranyi, the most ambitious claims that we can understand all life on earth have been dropped.
Evolutionary biologists didn't make such claims. Evidence about how inheritance works with natural selection was included in the modern synthesis. It showed how adaptive features of organisms, such as the eyes, wings and placentas mentioned by Buranyi, can evolve through natural selection, producing changes in the genetic composition of populations that can transform initially poor functions into complex adaptation. The 1994 paper by Dan-Erik Nilsson and Susanne Pelger showed how a light-sensitive patch can evolve into a light focused eye. The evolution of placentas is easy as they have evolved independently in several groups of animals.
Evolutionary biology has not changed much since the modern synthesis. The discovery that DNA is the genetic material led to the understanding that there are components of genomes lacking functional significance that evolve without significant effects on fitness.
The basic theory that allowed this advancement was developed by two people. The lofty perspective of population genetics is mischaracterized by Buranyi. Natural selection acting in wild populations has been documented in the field of ecological genetics. Our understanding of evolution is enriched by this use of theoretical work. The picture of contemporary work in evolutionary biology is given by Buranyi. University of Edinburgh, Deborah Charlesworth University of Edinburgh.
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