David Hagerberg <mik_daha at luecology.ecol.lu.se> wrote in article
<334A51B6.17E5 at luecology.ecol.lu.se>...
> Mike Koller wrote:
> >
> > > > The fact is this: sex is *not* a problem for evolutionary biology.
> > > > Theories regarding why sex persists (a separate question from how
sex
> > > > arose - which is also not a problem) are covered by any decent
> > > college-level
> > > > evolution text.
> > > >
> > > > Rich Kliman
> > > > Dept. of Biology
> > > > Radford University
> > > > *standard disclaimer*
> > > >
> >
> > Yup. I'm taking biology 1 and it's right there in plain english. Not
hard
> > to grasp or understand. It makes a whole lotta sense, scientifcally
> > speaking of course.
> >
> > Some tidbits:
> >
> > "Darwin's first point - that evolution occurs - can stand on its own,
> > whether or not natural selection is the cause".
> > (What vs. How)
> >
> > "Natural selection involves interactions between individual organisms
and
> > their environment, but individuals do not evolve. Evolution can be
> > measured only as changes in relative proportions of variations in a
> > population over a succession of generations."
> >
> > Why sex is better than no sex (regarding survivability):
> >
> > "On average, those individuals best suited to the local environment
leave
> > the most offspring, transmitting their genese in the process. This
natural
> > selection results in adaptation, the accumulation of those genetic
> > variations that are favored by the enironment. As the environment
changes
> > or a population moves, the population may survive if in each
generation, at
> > least some of its members can cope effectively with the new conditions.
> > Different genetic variations may work better than those that prevailed
in
> > the old time or place. SEX and mutations are the two sources of this
> > variation."
> >
> > All quotes from "Biology (4th ed.) by Campbell (Benjamin/Cummins Publ.)
>> In the same time sex is an ensurement of smilarity. A recessive mutant
> can be hidden by the normal alleles. Thus sex provides both similarity
> and a library of variation if an organism needa it.
>> Best regards
>> David Hagerberg
>
And more to the point, why sex (mixing your genes 50/50) if the whole
point of evolution revolves around a struggle to leave as many copies of
you genes as possible. Heck, you do not leave even one!!!
Regards, Joe
