Neodarwinismo

NEODARWINIAN EVOLUTION

What is it?

Neo-Darwinism, theory of evolution that represents a synthesis of Charles Darwin’s theory in terms of natural selection and modern population genetics. Theterm was first used after 1896 to describe the theories of August Weismann (1834–1914), who asserted that his germ-plasm theory made impossible the inheritance of acquired characteristics and supportednatural selection as the only major process that would account for biological evolution.

Principles:
* Gene expression and transmission of the characters. The expression of genes is responsiblefor the characteristics of the individual, i.e., phenotype, which is what is used for taxonomic classifications. Each hereditary characteristic is controlled by a gene, a fragment of DNA that isfound in the chromosomes and can be transmitted to offspring.
* Mutations. They are changes randomly occurring in the genes of an individual. They originate in the chromosomes, so it can be latertransmitted to offspring. Many of the mutations are harmful, so natural selection will remove them. Others, however, by chance, can provide some advantage to their carriers. In this case, individuals withthis mutation will leave these to their offspring and this advantage will, slowly, spread in a population.
* Genes in population. It Studies through mathematical models how varies the proportionof different genes in populations, considering that each gene is more or less favourable.

Neodawinian theory is a way of explaining evolution, taking into consideration Darwin’s work and the newgenetic studies. As said, Darwin’s work was based on natural selection but he barely knew about mutations. Thanks to Mendel and his studies on peas, evolution was better understood. Other scientistthat contributed to the neodarwinian theory were Theodosius Dobzhansky, Julian Huxley, Robert Malthus or Engels.

Modern synthesis:
The modern synthesis integrated different scientific disciplines...