Natural Selection Theory

Words: 1230
Pages: 5

Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection explains how complexity derived from simplicity. Life stemmed from a series of events, some simple and some complex. It is the act of atoms conjoining with one another in a chemical reaction to form molecules. There is a distinct selection of those stable forms of atoms, while the unstable forms are rejected. In order to determine how this complexity arose from simplicity researchers recreate the chemical conditions of young earth. They imitate these conditions with a combination of simple compounds and artificial simulation of primordial lighting. Within weeks a brown soup known of as the ‘primeval soup’ appeared in the flask with several molecules that were far more complex than the ones …show more content…
It is known that the shorter the genetic unit the longer in generations it is likely to live, due to the improbability to be altered by mutation. When it comes to life expectancy of a gene, the life expectancy of genetic units are expressed in generations, while the life span of a chromosome is only one measly generation. The reasoning behind this is that although the genetic unit may have lasted for generations, the arrangement of sub-units is new. In other words, the genes last long enough generations to serve as a unit of natural selection, therefore passing on to the next survival machine. They are replicators with high copying-fidelity, or longevity in the form of copies. A gene is only a portion of a chromosome. They can be passed down from generation to generation, hurdling from one body to the next, manipulating its survival machine in whatever way it pleases, and then casting it aside when the purpose has been served. This gene never becomes senile, but instead finds a new “home”, leaving the survival machine for death. Age has no effect on the gene of choice; it is in a sense immortal, living for millions a years. Although this is plausible, most genes fail to make it past their first generation. The likelihood of surviving and reproducing is determined by the structural stability of their survival machines. The genes are competing directly with their alleles for survival, but once a gene behaves in a way that increases their survival chances over the competing alleles, it in return survives and thrives to replicate yet