Galtier N. Half a Century of Controversy: The Neutralist/Selectionist Debate in Molecular Evolution.
Genome Biol Evol 2024;
16:evae003. [PMID:
38311843 PMCID:
PMC10839204 DOI:
10.1093/gbe/evae003]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The neutral and nearly neutral theories, introduced more than 50 yr ago, have raised and still raise passionate discussion regarding the forces governing molecular evolution and their relative importance. The debate, initially focused on the amount of within-species polymorphism and constancy of the substitution rate, has spread, matured, and now underlies a wide range of topics and questions. The neutralist/selectionist controversy has structured the field and influences the way molecular evolutionary scientists conceive their research.
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