In order to appreciatethe present position in modern biology regarding the theory of evolution bynatural selection, one must look at the divide that was initially betweenDarwinian selection and Mendelian genetics, despite the requirement for both inorder to understand natural selection. Mendelian genetics deals with the conceptsof hybridisation and heredity, but both were neglected in Darwin’s theory due tothe nature of his explanation of evolution being based off of the physicalevidence he identified while of his voyage to the Galapagos archipelago and hisresearch of the domestic species of England, as described in the Origin of Species. Gregor Mendel, was ascientist from the Czech Republic whose work sought to explain inheritance and incorporatemathematics into evolution in order to form the basis of population geneticswithin the modern evolutionary theory (Grafen 2006), as Mendel introduced the termand concept of “mutation” and applied it to a hereditary particle or gene. Mutationbeing defined as “the inception of a heritable variation caused by a fortuitouschange in the structure of a gene” (de Beer, 1963, p. 180). Darwinian and Mendeliansupporters both have to accept two concepts about the opposing theoriesDarwinian selection:1.
That the discontinuous effects ofmutations first observed were obvious detectable extremes with the majorityproducing only slight effects2. Mutations that were first observed hadharmful effects because of the fragility of well-adjusted organisms that aremore likely to be damaged by discontinuous changes than gradual stepsMendelian genetics 1. Individual genes may be associated withparticular characteristics and the control of these affected by genesconstitutes as an organised reshuffled genecomplex, as a result previousmutations can contain dissimilar genes leading to the formation of germ cellsand the recombination at random at the time of fertilisation, equalling a largenumber of possible variations of genes that can occur.2. In reshuffled gene complexes the effectsof a particular gene it is accentuated and in others it is reduced, therefore,the effects of mutations aren’t clear but may produce variations that aresimilar because the effect of given mutation can alter by the changes in thereshuffled gene complex (de Beer 1936)
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