Neutral theory of molecular evolution

The neutral theory of molecular evolution (also, simply the neutral theory of evolution) is an influential theory that was introduced with provocative effect by Motoo Kimura in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the theory was received by some as an argument against Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Kimura and most evolutionary biologists today maintain that the two theories are compatible. The theory attributes a large role to genetic drift.

References

• {{book reference |Author=Gillespie, J. H |Year=1991 |Title=The Causes of Molecular Evolution |Publisher=Oxford University Press, New York| ID=ISBN 0-19-506883-1}}
• {{book reference |Author=Graur, D. and Li, W-H |Year=2000 |Title=Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution | Publisher=Sinauer Associates |ID=2nd edition}}
• {{journal reference | Author=Kimura, M |Year=1968 | Title=Evolutionary rate at molecular level |Journal=Nature |Volume=217 | Pages=624-626}}
• {{book reference |Author=Kimura, M | Year=1983 |Title=Neutral theory of molecular evolution |Publisher=Cambridge University Press | ID=ISBN 0-521-23109-4}}
• {{journal reference |Author=King, J.L. and Jukes, T.H | Year=1969 |Title=Non-Darwinian Evolution | Journal=Science |Volume=169 |Pages=788-798}}
• {{book reference | Author=Lewontin, R |Year=1974 |Title=The Genetic Basis of Evolutionary Change| Publisher=Columbia University Press |ID=ISBN 0-231-03392-3}}
• {{journal reference | Author=Ohta, T |Year=1973 |Title=Slightly deleterious mutant substitutions in evolution |Journal=Nature |Volume=246 |Pages=96-98}}
• {{journal reference | Author=Ohta, T |Year=1992 |Title=The nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution |Journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |Volume=23 |Pages=263-286}}
• {{journal reference|Author=Ohta, T. |Year=2002 |Title=Near-neutrality in evolution of genes and gene regulation | Journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |Volume=99| Pages=16134-16137}} Inaugural Article, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/25/16134
• {{journal reference|Author=Ohta, T. and Gillespie, J.H | Year=1996 | Title=Development of Neutral and Nearly Neutral Theories | Journal=Theoretical Population Biology |Volume=49 |Pages=128-142}}
• {{journal reference |Author=Sueoka, N. |Year=1962 |Title=On the genetic basis of variation and heterogeneity of DNA base compositions |Journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |Volume=48 |Pages=582-592}}