Pregnancy as a Factor of Adaptive Human Evolution. The Role of Natural Selection in the Origin of Preeclampsia

Chapter 7 describes the fundamental role of randomness in quantum mechanics, in generating the first biomolecules, and in biological evolution. Experiments testing the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox have demonstrated, via Bell’s inequalities, that no local hidden variable theory can provide a viable alternative to quantum mechanics, with its fundamental randomness built in. Randomness presumably plays an equally important role in the chemical assembly of a wide array of polymer molecules to be sampled for their ability to store genetic information and self-replicate, fueling the sort of abiogenesis assumed in the RNA world hypothesis of life’s beginnings. Evidence for random mutations in biological evolution, microevolution of both bacteria and antibodies and macroevolution of the species, is briefly reviewed. The importance of natural selection in guiding the adaptation of species to changing environments is emphasized. A speculative role of cosmological natural selection for black-hole fecundity in the evolution of universes is discussed.

Download Full-text

The role of historical factors and natural selection in the evolution of breeding systems of Oxalis alpina in the Sonoran desert ‘Sky Islands’

Journal of Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02075.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 23 (10) ◽

pp. 2163-2175 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

J. PÉREZ-ALQUICIRA ◽

F. E. MOLINA-FREANER ◽

D. PIÑERO ◽

S. G. WELLER ◽

E. MARTÍNEZ-MEYER ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Sonoran Desert ◽

Breeding Systems ◽

Sky Islands ◽

Historical Factors

Download Full-text

Role of mutational bias and natural selection on genome-wide nucleotide bias in prokaryotic organisms

Biosystems ◽

10.1016/j.biosystems.2005.01.002 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 11-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

T. Banerjee ◽

S.K. Gupta ◽

T.C. Ghosh

Keyword(s):

Natural Selection ◽

Mutational Bias ◽

Nucleotide Bias ◽

Genome Wide

Download Full-text

Group Selection in the Evolution of Religion: Genetic Evolution or Cultural Evolution?

Journal of Cognition and Culture ◽

10.1163/15685373-12342149 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (3-4) ◽

pp. 235-253 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Taylor Davis

Keyword(s):

Human Evolution ◽

Cultural Evolution ◽

Group Selection ◽

Genetic Group ◽

Genetic Evolution ◽

Psychological Traits ◽

Religious Psychology ◽

Religious Evolution ◽

The Relationship

In the scientific literature on religious evolution, two competing theories appeal to group selection to explain the relationship between religious belief and altruism, or costly, prosocial behavior. Both theories agree that group selection plays an important role in cultural evolution, affecting psychological traits that individuals acquire through social learning. They disagree, however, about whether group selection has also played a role in genetic evolution, affecting traits that are inherited genetically. Recently, Jonathan Haidt has defended the most fully developed account based on genetic group selection, and I argue here that problems with this account reveal good reasons to doubt that genetic group selection has played any important role in human evolution at all. Thus, considering the role of group selection in religious evolution is important not just because of what it reveals about religious psychology and religious evolution, but also because of what it reveals about the role of group selection in human evolution more generally.

Download Full-text