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The mechanisms of evolution focus mainly on mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, non-random mating, and natural selection. Mutation: Mutation [12] is a change in the DNA sequence inside a gene or a chromosome of an organism. Most mutations are deleterious, or neutral; i.e. they can neither harm nor benefit, but can also be beneficial sometimes.
Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals [1] or the differences between populations among the same species. [2] The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. [3] Mutations are the ultimate sources of genetic variation, but other mechanisms, such as genetic drift, contribute to it, as ...
Contemporary biologists accept that mutation and selection both play roles in evolution; the mainstream view is that while mutation supplies material for selection in the form of variation, all non-random outcomes are caused by natural selection. [59]
Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. [1] [2] It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within a population over successive generations. [3]
These ideas developed into mutationism, the mutation theory of evolution. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] This held that species went through periods of rapid mutation, possibly as a result of environmental stress, that could produce multiple mutations, and in some cases completely new species, in a single generation, based on de Vries's experiments with the ...
Molecular evolution describes how inherited DNA and/or RNA change over evolutionary time, and the consequences of this for proteins and other components of cells and organisms. Molecular evolution is the basis of phylogenetic approaches to describing the tree of life. Molecular evolution overlaps with population genetics, especially on shorter ...
Since mutation rate is relatively constant, roughly one half of these changes occurred in the human lineage. Only a very tiny fraction of those fixed differences gave rise to the different phenotypes of humans and chimpanzees and finding those is a great challenge. The vast majority of the differences are neutral and do not affect the phenotype.
Mutations can be attributed to many factors and come in numerous different forms, however they can mostly be attributed to mistakes that occur during DNA replication or exposure to external factors. [4] As cellular processes are highly efficient, they are not perfect causing disparities between organisms of the same species. [4]