The Illusions of the Modern Synthesis

The Modern Synthesis has dominated biology for 80 years. It was formulated in 1942, a decade before the major achievements of molecular biology, including the Double Helix and the Central Dogma. When first formulated in the 1950s these discoveries and concepts seemed initially to completely justify...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biosemiotics 2021-04, Vol.14 (1), p.5-24
Main Author: Noble, Denis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Artificial Intelligence
Biomedical and Life Sciences
DNA biosynthesis
Evolutionary Biology
Heredity
Life Sciences
Linguistics
Molecular biology
Natural selection
Philosophy of Science
Psychology
Target Article
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Modern Synthesis has dominated biology for 80 years. It was formulated in 1942, a decade before the major achievements of molecular biology, including the Double Helix and the Central Dogma. When first formulated in the 1950s these discoveries and concepts seemed initially to completely justify the central genetic assumptions of the Modern Synthesis. The Double Helix provided the basis for highly accurate DNA replication, while the Central Dogma was viewed as supporting the Weismann Barrier, so excluding the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This article examines the language of the Modern Synthesis and reveals that it is based on four important misinterpretations of what molecular biology had shown, so forming the basis of the four Illusions: 1. Natural Selection; 2. The Weismann Barrier; 3. The Rejection of Darwin’s Gemmules; 4. The Central Dogma. A multi-level organisation view of biology avoids these illusions through the principle of biological relativity. Molecular biology does not therefore confirm the assumptions of the Modern Synthesis.
ISSN:1875-1342
1875-1350
DOI:10.1007/s12304-021-09405-3