The cost of evolution and the imprecision of adaptation.
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Comparisons of six hypothetical cases suggest that Haldane overstimated the cost of natural selection by allele substitution. The cost is reduced if recessive alleles are advantageous, if substitutions are large and few, if selection is strong and substitutions are rapid, if substitutions are serial, and if substitutions in small demes are followed by deme-group substitutions. But costs are still so heavy that the adaptations of complex organisms in complex and changing environments are never completed. The rule probably is that most species most of the time are not fully adapted to their environments, but are just a little better than their competitors for the time being.
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Many typical ALE experiments were performed in shake flasks and similar growth conditions with cell densities in the range of 10^7 to 10^9 cells per mL for typical microbial cultures.
“Many typical ALE experiments were performed in shake flasks and similar growth conditions with cell densities in the range of 107 to 109 cells per mL for typical microbial cultures [124,125]”
From Adaptive laboratory evolution—Principles and applications for biotechnology (2013) · cites this paper as [124]
Cites
Dobzhansky, T. (1972) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.177.4050.664 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Group selection, altruism, reinforcement, and throwing in human evolution.
Darlington, P. J. (1975) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.72.9.3748 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Self-citationAn Analysis of the Cost-of-Selection Concept
Flake, R. H., & Grant, V. (1974) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.71.9.3716 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Solutions to the Cost-of-Selection Dilemma
Grant, V., & Flake, R. H. (1974) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.71.10.3863 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Rates, patterns, and effectiveness of evolution in multi-level situations.
Darlington, P. F. (1976) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.73.4.1360 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationPopulation Structure in Relation to Cost of Selection
Grant, V., & Flake, R. H. (1974) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.71.5.1670 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
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Adaptive laboratory evolution—Principles and applications for biotechnology
Dragosits, M., & Mattanovich, D. (2013) · Microbial Cell Factories · doi:10.1186/1475-2859-12-64 · Cited by 827 · see citing works
- Authors
- Darlington, P. J.
- Corresponding author
- Darlington, P J
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 1977-04
- Volume
- 74
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1647-1651
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC430849
- OpenAlex
- W2034914364
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Theory and Institutions
- Keywords
- recessive alleles, environmental change
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Biological, Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Biological Evolution, Female, Male, Mathematics, Models, Biological, Selection, Genetic
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