Tagged Questions
0
votes
1answer
58 views
Lineage selection in plasmid evolution
I've been reading through Paulsson (2002) and I am not sure what he means by "lineage selection" in the second to last section. The paper deals with plasmid replication, and mostly concentrates on the ...
3
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0answers
38 views
Structure of fitness landscapes in the NK model
The NK model of rugged fitness landscapes consists of $N$ sites where fitness contribution of each site depends on its state $\{0,1\}$ and is epistatically affected by $K$ other sites. When defining ...
3
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1answer
62 views
Are there natural selection experiments that quantitatively agree with theoretical modeling?
Has anyone ever conducted an evolution experiment and quantitatively compared it to theory? For example, has anyone ever put bacteria in a million petri dishes filled with antibiotics and calculated ...
4
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1answer
106 views
Is local equilibrium a reasonable assumption for evolutionary processes?
Whenever I look at discussions of fitness landscapes (in particular, Kauffman's NK model) the questions tend to resemble:
The population is at a local equilibrium, but another equilibrium of ...
3
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1answer
55 views
When does weak selection produce qualitatively different results from strong selection?
In evolutionary game theory, it is typical to model organisms as having a base fitness that is modified slightly by the game interaction. The ratio of the game effect versus the base fitness ...
5
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1answer
147 views
Computational/mathematical models for predicting phenotype from genotype
Karr, Sanghvi, et al. (2012) propose a whole-cell computational model for predicting phenotype from genotype in Mycoplasma genitalium. Their model simulates myriad cell processes such as DNA ...
5
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1answer
89 views
Alternatives to fittest-win and Moran processes as simple mathematical models of selection
When modeling selective sweeps as a micro-building block in models of macroevolution (not to be confused with misuses of this in creationist arguments), I use the fittest-win model of selection as a ...
9
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1answer
324 views
Why are there nail growth differences between humans and other mammals?
When a cat is growing, his nails are growing with him to some extent. A grown cat has a fixed nail length that is not extending.
By contrast, human finger nails just keep on growing, so we have to ...
31
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1answer
545 views
Is there any evidence that sexual selection may lead to extinction of species?
Darwin suggested that sexual selection, especially by female choice, may counter natural selection. Theoretical models, such as a Fisherian runaway process, suggest that evolution of preference and ...