Research report 2012 - Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics

A truly selfish gene and its supporters

Authors
Herrmann, Bernhard G.
Departments
Entwicklungsgenetik
Summary
At fertilisation, we get one set of chromosomes from each parent and, in general, pass on either the paternal or the maternal allele of each gene with equal frequency to our children. This has been taught by Mendel. According to Richard Dawkins’ hypothesis, however, there are selfish genes which are not content with random selection and thus actively promote their increased transmission to the next generation. Evidence for this assumption comes from a mouse gene that is transmitted at a frequency of up to 99% from males to their offspring.

For the full text, see the German version.

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