The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution in Historical Perspective

历史视野中的分子进化中性理论

• 批准号: 9111551
• 负责人: William Provine
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1991
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1991-08-15 至 1994-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9111551&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Neutral; Theory; Molecular; Evolution; Historical

Dr. Provine is investigating the origins, development, and influence of the neutral theory of molecular evolution in relation to modern evolutionary biology. The neutral theory states that the vast majority of changes at the molecular level in natural populations are caused by random fixation, through random sampling drift, of selectively neutral or nearly neutral mutations. This is a strikingly new theory unrelated to earlier theories of selectively neutral evolution except in certain formal aspects, and has stimulated more than two decades of intense controversy among evolutionary biologists. Dr. Provine is using the selectionist/neurtralist debate as a window through which to view the complex interactions of the new molecular biology with evolutionary biology of the 1970s and 1980s. He is examining this debate through an historical and cultural perspective.

普罗文博士正在研究分子进化中性理论与现代进化生物学的起源、发展和影响。 中性理论指出，自然群体中分子水平的绝大多数变化是由选择性中性或近中性突变的随机固定（通过随机采样漂移）引起的。 这是一个惊人的新理论，除了某些形式方面外，与早期的选择性中性进化理论无关，并在进化生物学家中引发了二十多年的激烈争论。 Provine 博士利用选择论/中立论争论作为一个窗口，通过这个窗口来观察 20 世纪 70 年代和 80 年代新分子生物学与进化生物学之间复杂的相互作用。 他正在从历史和文化的角度审视这场辩论。