Mutation and evolution

Tag: mutation bias

  • Mutation-biased adaptation reaches the mainstream

    The most recent issue of PNAS includes a report by Galen, et al linking enhanced mutation at a CpG site to altitude adaptation in Andean house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), based on clear biogeographic and biochemical evidence of adaptation.  I’ve been waiting for this, both in the narrow sense that I’ve been waiting for this particular study…

  • The range of rates for different genetic types of mutations

    To understand the potential role of mutation in evolution, it is important to understand the enormous range of rates for different types of mutations. If one ignores this, and thinks of “the mutation rate” as a single number, or if one divides mutation into point mutations with a characteristic rate, and other mutations…

  • Revolt of the clay: updated evidence

    In a previous post called “The revolt of the clay“, I described four different ways to think about the role of variation as a process with a predictably non-random impact on the outcome of evolution.  The main point was to draw attention to my favorite idea, about biases in the introduction of variation as…