Why sex?

Posted by Russ Abbott on Aug 29, 2009; 12:20pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Why-sex-tp3541792.html

It's been 8 months since the publication of "A mixibility theory for the role of sex in evolution" by Livnat et. al. (PNAS December 16, 2008). But I didn't come across it until very recently. The message is that sexual reproduction doesn't contribute directly to scaling fitness peaks. Instead over a period of generations it selects for genes that work well with a wide range of other genes. (That's what the "mixibility" in the title refers to.) This in turn leads to modularity within the genome, which leads to improved evolvability--since the genes are not so tightly coupled to each other.

This seems like a very different way of understanding the role of sexual reproduction. I'm surprised that it hasn't generated more buzz. Or is it just that I haven't been paying attention?

-- Russ

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