To my surprise, since I thought I had a rough and ready sense of these
things, I find what looks like a fresh and challenging idea in evolutionary
theory (a mere 18 years after it was proposed). This is adoptation, the
outcome of molecular drive, explained by Gabriel Dover, prof of genetics at
Leicester in the UK, in his new book DEAR MR DARWIN (Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
2000).
The frame of book is either engaging or cheesy, depending on how you feel
about reading a correspondence between Gabby Dover (as he calls himself)
and the ghost of Charles Darwin. Either way, Dover is a clear and sometimes
lyrical writer, as befits a fellow working this seam of knowledge. The book
seems to be adapted (or adopted, or exapted) from various articles and
papers such as `Anti-Dawkins' (forthcoming). I'm still working through it,
but he actually does seem to have a nifty gadget working for him. I've
found a few sites dealing with the topic, such as
http://biology.uoregon.edu/Biology_WWW/Biospheres/Spring94/Dyan2/Dyan.html
but you'll need to go ferret yourself, because I have this book to read...
For those in the know, he starts with the mobile P gene moving from
Drosophila willisoni => D. melanogaster at the start of the 20th century.
Damien
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