What Future for Evolutionary Biology? Response to Commentaries on “The Illusions of the Modern Synthesis”

Abstract

The extensive range and depth of the twenty commentaries on my target article (Noble, 2021) confirms that something has gone deeply wrong in biology. A wide range of biologists has more than met my invitation for “others to pitch in and develop or counter my arguments.” The commentaries greatly develop those arguments. Also remarkably, none raise issues I would seriously disagree with. I will focus first on the more critical comments, summarise the other comments, and then point the way forward on what I view as a necessary and long-overdue transition in the foundations of biology.

How the Hodgkin cycle became the principle of biological relativity

“…In large part, therefore, molecular biology itself has been instrumental in deconstructing its own mid‐20th century dogmas. The full details are to be found in Noble (2018, 2021a, 2021b) and Shapiro and Noble (2021). Here, I will summarise the main conclusions: DNA is a remarkably inert molecule.…”

Modern physiology vindicates Darwin's dream

“…Yet, there is ample evidence that Lamarck was essentially right (Allis et al., 2015; Bateson & Gluckman, 2011; Escobar et al., 2021; Gissis & Jablonka, 2011; Gluckman & Hanson, 2005; Gluckman et al., 2016; Jablonka, 2016; Jablonka & Lamb, 2005, 2014; Noble, 2021b; Skvortsova et al., 2018). The demise of the Weismann Barrier, following the discovery that regulatory nucleotide sequences developed by soma cells can be transmitted to the germline, resurrects the valid question: how many such characteristics are transmitted in this way?…”

“…The reason the tree has become an extensive network is that organisms have frequently exchanged their components, including nucleotide sequences, during their evolution. Several papers and books published recently document the details (Noble, 2021a(Noble, , 2021b(Noble, , 2022Shapiro, 2022aShapiro, , 2022bShapiro & Noble 2021). Shapiro & Noble (2021) document in detail the many experimental discoveries made over a period of many years that fall outside the range of the M.odern Synthesis, but are neglected or downplayed in modern textbooks and popularisations.…”

Teleonomy as a problem of self-causation

“…Today, debates have somewhat settled on the consensus that selection operates on multiple units (Hull, 1980;Griffiths & Gray, 1994;Griesemer, 2000) at multiple levels (Gould & Eldredge, 1988;Wilson & Sober, 1989;Lloyd & Gould, 1993;Boyd et al, 2011). Debates on the nature of an extended evolutionary synthesis (Pigliucci, 2007;Pigliucci & Müller, 2010), or third way of evolution (Corning, 2020(Corning, , 2022aNoble, 2021;Shapiro & Noble, 2021;Shapiro, 2022a, b) have moreover made it clear that evolution can altogether proceed by mechanisms and processes distinct from selection.…”