Genes vs. Teams: Weighing Group Tactics in Evolution

摘要

In the Olympics of life, most evolutionary biologists say, it is the individual's score that counts. Individual organisms compete with each other, and the winner is the one that passes the most genes to the next generation. But some evolutionary biologists have argued that this view overlooks the struggles and strategies of "teams"--whether they be species, groups of cells, or groups of organisms--in the evolutionary race. And although the idea of group selection was discredited more tha'n 30 years ago, a growing number of researchers say that it deserves a fresh hearing. Group selection, they say, may explain patterns ranging from how cells are kept in check in a developing organism, to the evolution of honeybee dancing, to the way plants grow in a crowded field.