Impact of DNA replication errors put to the test
Normile, D.
Science 272(5263): 816-817
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 8629010 Document Number: 459835
Embryologist Hirofumi Doi and molecular biologist Mitsuru Furusawa have developed a theoretical model demonstrating that the very process of DNA synthesis spreads mutations unevenly across a population. The researchers believe that this process may help to keep populations strong by preserving a stable genetic baseline yet pave the way for swift evolutionary change when environmental conditions shift. Doi and Furusawa have developed and tested their model with computer simulations. It may be put to a more realistic challenge soon, however, when a team of Austrian scientists searches for the kinds of evolutionary changes the model predicts in two experimental organisms. If the team succeeds, the results will not only increase understanding of evolutionary processes but also heighten the status of evolutionary biology as an experimental science.