Abstract
M.Sc.
The current dogma that dictates that Natural Selection is the driving force behind
evolutionary change, is finally being challenged - what with the upsurgence of
evidence provided by molecular and developmental biologists. This genetic and
ontogenic evidence points towards a far more holistic approach (such as the
involvement of the cell as a whole, the external environment as well as a flexible
genome) to evolution, in contrast to the previously accepted DNA-centric
Mendelian hypothesis. This new wave of thought, together with the re-discovery
of 18th and 19th century evolutionary thought that complies with current findings,
was the motivation to expose other biological mechanisms that are able to induce
evolutionary change. New concepts were introduced (that contradict Neo-
Darwinian thinking), with the intention of placing Natural Selection in its rightful
position as an adaptive mechanism. Concepts introduced, were firstly, a chapter
on how genes produce their effects, and, that by simply reinserting or duplicating
existing genes, drastic (macro-evolutionary) change would result. Here the
genome is portrayed as a static and dynamic system. The phenomenon of
repetition or duplication of existing genes provides evidence of common
ancestry, as well as reinforcing the idea of regularity in evolution. Abundant
evidence in nature reveals trends of regularity or constraint. Anything is not
possible in evolutionary development. The search for laws of form and the
reasons for their constraining variables are discussed. The most interesting
evolutionary events are those that have led to major changes in the anatomical
organisation of animals. These changes are associated with the formation of new
phyla. All that remains of such highly significant events are the time-locked tales
of fossils. However, the fossil record cannot begin to reveal how these events
occurred. The final chapter speculates on how life may have begun in the
primordial waters and ends at a hypothesis on the origin of eukaryotes. The
scription was an attempt to nudge the prevailing "Darwin" orientated evolutionary
paradigm, in order to create space for the arrival of an "Epigenetic" orientated
evolutionary paradigm, that is completely able to explain evolutionary procedure.