The Modern evolutionary synthesis is combination of Darwinian evolutionary theory and Mendelian genetics. It is impossible to understand the theory and it's importance to the scientific community unless one understands the history behind the theory.
From 1902 to 1953 major publications in the areas of systematics, developmental biology, botany, population genetics, and paleontology sucessfully integrated Darwin's four postulates and Mendelian genetics into a reformation of evolutionary theory. The new theory is referred to as the Modern Synthesis, Evolutionary Synthesis, or the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. These terms can be used inter-changeably.
Before one can understand the Modern Synthesis and this analysis there a few defintions that must be explained in order to grasp the concept, espically if a person is not familiar with biological terminology. This list of definitions does not have to be read fully but is provided to refer to when a biological term is not understood... of course maybe not every term that isn't understood, but the majority.
-Allele-one of a pair, or series, of alternative forms of a gene that occur at a given locus (location) in a chromosome.
-Fitness-the number of offspring left by an individual, often compared with the average of the population or with some other standard, such as the number left by a particular genotype.
-Gene-a hereditary determinant of a specific biological function; a
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If allele frequencies in a population are given by p and q the genetic frequencies will be given by p², 2pq, and q².
-Basically this means p=A1(allele 1) and q=A2 (allele 2): they are both part of a larger statistical equation. Hardy and Weinberg used the p and q equations to find the genetic frequencies and the allelic frequency which is steady at all values between 0 and 1, as long as
Mutation - a permanent, heritable change in the nucleotide sequence in a gene or a chromosome
A permanent change in the DNA sequence which makes up a gene is what is referred to as gene mutation (Mahoney & Springer 2009). It is believed that gene mutation occurs in two ways: that is, it can be acquired in personal lifetime or inherited from a parent. Those that are passed from parents to the child are referred to as hereditary mutation. They acquire the name since they are present in the eggs and sperms or the germ cell. In this case, such kind of mutation is present all through one’s life in almost every cell in the body. A similarity in mutation and gene diversity is the change in the DNA sequence which makes both mutation and genetic diversity have related issues.
Evolution became extremely popular since the publication of Charles Darwin’s theory in his infamous book, The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of...
Famous biologists, such as R.A. Fisher, J.B.S Haldane, Sewall Wright, and W.D. Hamilton worked on and developed the idea of evolution by natural selection with Mendelian genetics, producing the modern synthesis (Wikipedia: History of Biology).
More recently it has evolved to mean “modifications” to DNA that affect gene expression but do not involve base changes
What is evolution? Evolution is a change in the traits of living organisms over generations. Since the development of modern genetics in the 1940s, evolution has been defined more specifically as a change in the frequency of alleles in a population from one generation to the next. In other fields evolution is used more generally to refer to any process of change over time.
In the early 1840s, the main principles of Darwin’s theory of evolution were formulated by the mechanism of natural selection; however, he did not publish it. Although evolutionary theory sprouted in many places, Darwin rejected the publication of his theory, and it was not until 1859 that he published “On the Origin of Species” (Darwin, 1859).
3 Leicht B. G., McAllister B.F. 2014. Foundations of Biology 1411, 2nd edition. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press. Pp 137, 163-168, 177-180,
The thought of evolution is filled with theories, ideas and beliefs. The definition of evolution is rather simple. According to Jerry A. Coyle, evolution is “the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations (2). Evolution gives rise to diversity when it comes to the hierarchy of life otherwise known as biological organization. Many people find the topic of evolution to be troubling and very confusing. Throughout history churches have preached that evolution is atheistic and a sin if even thought about. Famous scientist, Charles Darwin, is said to really be the first to formulate debated theory of evolution by the means of natural selection. Eventually in the 20th century genetics was compounded with Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution. Even today scientists continue to study different aspects of the theory of evolution.
Anyone with even a moderate background in science has heard of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. Since the publishing of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859, Darwin’s ideas have been debated by everyone from scientists to theologians to ordinary lay-people. Today, though there is still severe opposition, evolution is regarded as fact by most of the scientific community and Darwin’s book remains one of the most influential ever written.
Biological evolution is descent with modification. Theories of evolution have their roots in early Greek and Roman culture. Before seventh century B.C.E., people believed that supernatural forces were responsible for life. Philosophers Plato and Aristotle argued against this doctrine. They used logic to explain the origins of life. It was commonly accepted that the earth was only a few thousand years old, species were immutable, and that life is arranged linearly. In the seventh century, naturalist John Ray used the term “species” as the basic unit of classification. In the eighteenth century, Carolus Linnaeus created a hierarchical classification system for organizing species based on resemblance using phylogenetic trees. In 1809, French theorist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck published his theory of inheritance of acquired traits. In 1830, Charles Lyell introduced uniformitarianism as the mechanism for evolution; the theory that states that geologic change is relatively constant. In the mid-nineteenth century, Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin both individually conceived natural selection as the mechanism for evolution. Darwin received credit for the theory of natural selection because he published his book, On the Origin of Species, before Wallace. In 1865, Gregor Mendel is the founder of modern genetics through his work with pea plant crosses. To this day, the work of Mendel and Darwin are widely accepted.
Microevolution is the change in allele frequencies that occur over time. This changes the genetic makeup of a population from generation to generation. Also microevolution is based on a single species, and it also why it’s called small scaled evolution. Mutation, migration, genetic drift, and natural selection are all processes that can directly affect gene frequencies in a population. But to understand microevolution, one must first know what an allele is.
Gould, Stephen Jay. "Evolution as Fact and Theory." The Norton Mix. Editor Katie Hannah. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 110-119.
Another mechanism is a hereditable type of evolution is mutations. Mutations are alterations to a gene. Mutation can be harmful, beneficial or neutral. Mutations are the origin of the source of genetic diversity (9).Mutation that are harmful, hinders the chances of the organism chances of survival and are likely to die along with the mutations. Beneficial mutations increase the chances of the individual to survive in its environment, and they will be more likely to reproduce and pass on the gene to future generations (9).