"Finally, can genes build bodies? One of the truly gaping holes in evolutionary theory is the void in our understanding of how genes actually construct bodies. This is important for neo-Darwinism because selection is usually thought to act on *individuals*, in terms of survival or fitness, and yet the central mathematical theory of natural selection is expounded in terms of *genes* (a distinction which, as we shall see, is crucial). Is there the implied simple one-to-one correspondence between genes and bodies? It would appear that there is not. The processes which cause a bag of genes to 'become' a multi-million- celled complex organism are still a huge mystery, but the most recent theories of development appear hard to reconcile with the mechanistic and 'reductionist' neoDarwinism." (Leith, Brian [producer, Natural History Unit, BC, Bristol UK], "The Descent of Darwin: A Handbook of Doubts about Darwinism," Collins: London, 1982, p.24. Emphasis in original).
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Created: 22 July, 2001. Updated: 27 May, 2003.