Evolution: Natural Selection and Beneficial Mutations Essay

Submitted By Dmsnelg
Words: 596
Pages: 3
Open Document
The theory of evolution is one of the best-known scientific theories around. Evolution is fascinating because it attempts to answer one of the most basic human questions: Where did life, and human beings, come from? The theory of evolution proposes that life and humans arose through a natural process. The basic theory of evolution is surprisingly simple and has a few essential parts and stresses a purely naturalistic descent. That is, complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. In a nutshell, as random genetic mutations occur within an organism‘s genetic code, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival - a process known as “natural selection.” These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation. Over time beneficial mutations accumulate and the result is an entirely different organism (not just a variation of the original, but an entirely different creature).
Natural selection acts to preserve and accumulate minor advantageous genetic mutations. Suppose a member of a species developed a functional advantage (it grew wings and learned to fly). Its offspring would inherit this adaptation and pass it on to their offspring. The inferior (disadvantaged) members of the same species would gradually die out, leaving only the superior (advantaged) members of the species. Natural selection is nature’s equivalent to domestic breeding. Over the centuries, humans have produced dramatic changes in domestic animals by selecting individuals to breed. Breeders eliminate undesirable traits gradually over time. Similarly, natural selection eliminates inferior species gradually over time.
Occasionally a process call speciation will occur within a species. This happens when a new organism has been created and it can no longer interbreed with the original organisms in nature and produce viable offspring. At that point, they are now a new species and speciation has occurred. Here is a simple example of how speciation could occur. Simple fruit fly eggs have been laid on a bunch of bananas. As these eggs are lounging on the bananas on the mainland, a hurricane strikes and washes the bananas and the eggs out to sea. Eventually the bananas and the eggs are washed up on an island. The fruit flies hatch and mature on the island. Due to environmental differences on the island, the
Show More

Related Documents: Evolution: Natural Selection and Beneficial Mutations Essay

Evolutionary Selection Vs Natural Selection

Natural selection is one of the central mechanisms of evolutionary change and is the process responsible for the evolution of adaptive features. The term adaptation is the process by which populations of organisms evolve in such a way as to become better suited to their environments as advantageous traits become predominant. It is also how physical, physiological, and behavioral features that contribute to survival and reproduction arise over evolutionary time. Natural selection by itself is incapable…

Words 254 - Pages 2

Charles Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

free-thinking family, created a theory to which many continue to study today. The theory of natural selection is a notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor; from plant life to the animal kingdom. This specific theory states as if all complex creatures evolved and matured over time from simple creatures who adapted with the environment. Said theory suggest beneficial mutations, the dying of weaker fractions of the species; while stronger and more superior fractions live…

Words 988 - Pages 4

The Teleological Theory: Design Argument And The Theory Of Evolution

“God” or a higher being or no being at all. Whether you side with those that believe that god does exist or with those who believe that we evolved through the process of evolution, I will be siding with neither. Instead, I will explain the main points from both the advocate of the teleological argument and the Theory of Evolution. The Teleological Theory states that the world that we live in possesses a highly ordered structure, like a machine. Our world’s design is so intricate and complex that…

Words 1957 - Pages 8

Latase Persistence Research Paper

properly digest lactose; this is known as lactase persistence (Check 2006). While only certain populations can tolerate milk as adults, this can be attributed to their genetic and cultural histories that gave rise to the mutation that allows for the proper digestion of lactose. This mutation prevailed in these populations because they actively drank milk, which proves that Neanderthals could not have been lactase persistent and neither can populations that stop drinking milk due to an increased availability…

Words 1100 - Pages 5

15 Alleles Changing Essay

Allele Frequencies: Changing Chapter 15 Changing Allele Frequencies 1. Mutation – introduces new alleles into population 2. Natural Selection – specific alleles are more likely to be passed down because they are somehow advantageous 3. Non-random Mating – individuals of one genotype are more likely to mate with individuals of same genotype – Think of an example of this happening? Changing Allele Frequencies 4. Migration – individuals with specific genotypes move in or out of a population 5. Genetic…

Words 963 - Pages 4

Is it possible for the origin of life to predate the origin of the Earth? Essay

with a single DNA base pair then exponentially increased from there (as seen in graph below). The paper presented many debatable points about complexity, evolution, and the genomic sizes of various organisms that made their hypothesis unrealistic. For the majority of the paper, Sharov and Gordon continuously argued that evolution played an important role in the increase of functional complexity. They explained, “function can be defined as a reproducible sequence of actions of organisms…

Words 1595 - Pages 7

Natural Selection In Progeria

humans all over the world. Perhaps Darwin`s theory of evolution explains it all. Darwin created a theory based on the process of how humans evolve. Perhaps the environment has a lot to do with the evolutionary process just as Darwin has proposed. Charles Darwin introduced a theory on how humans could have evolved by natural selection, mutation and descent with modification. Charles Darwin promoted the term natural selection. Natural selection is another way of saying that biological traits slowly…

Words 1200 - Pages 5

Sticklebackfish: The Definition Of Epigenetic

The definition of epigenetics is the modification of a species over time due to its surrounding environment. The stickleback fish have removed their pelvic and dorsal spines over a duration of time because in their new environment proved unbeneficial. This change is al a demonstration of gene regulation. While the spines severed a purpose in a marine life at one point in time, the freshwater habitat requires a different body structure and composition for the survival. A change in size allowed the…

Words 411 - Pages 2

Principles 1 Chapter 1 1 Essay

OUTLINE/CORE CONCEPTS 1.1 The Scientific Method The scientific method is a deliberate way of asking and answering questions about the natural world. 1.2 Chemical and Physical Principles Life works according to fundamental principles of chemistry and physics. 1.3 The Cell The fundamental unit of life is the cell. CHAPTER OUTLINE/CORE CONCEPTS 1.4 Evolution Evolution explains the features that organisms share and those that set them apart. 1.5 Ecological Systems Organisms interact with one another…

Words 3123 - Pages 13

Essay about An Unnatural Selection: A Forward Look on Darwin

An Unnatural Selection: A Forward Look on Darwin’s Theory Biology Current Event Report “. . . From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and dropped off, and these lost branches of various sizes may represent those whole orders, families, and genera which have now no living representatives, and which are known to us only from having been found in a fossil state . . . As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all a feebler…

Words 1137 - Pages 5