Molecular Strategies in Biological Evolution - Papers Presented at a Conference Held on June 27-29, 1998 in New York (Hardcover)

This reference work, the result of a conference co-chaired with Nobel laureate Werner Arber, addresses the molecular strategies by which lineages of organisms respond to challenges and opportunities in their environment. It explores the notion that organisms have evolved the ability to modulate the rate, location and extent of genetic variation. Jumps in efficiency, made possible by development of novel efficient evolutionary strategies, could fuel rapid, saltatory expansion of species into novel niches as each innovation evolves. An up-to-date assessment is provided on biochemical mechanisms available to modulate the rate of genetic change at specific sites within a genome, the induction in certain environments of enzymes with altered sequence-dependent recombination, mismatch repair and/or replication fidelity, and statistical evidence for nonrandom genetic events. This discussion of genomic strategies for evolution has profound implications for basic biology and evolutionary theory. The subjects explored are important ones in understanding inherited diseases, tumor progression and the challenges posed by pathogenic organisms.