Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Genetics

The inner life of proteins

A quantitative analysis shows that epistasis — the fact that genetic background determines whether a mutation is beneficial, deleterious or inconsequential — is the main factor regulating evolution at the level of proteins. See Letter p.535

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Breen, M. S., Kemena, C., Vlasov, P. K., Notredame, C. & Kondrashov, F. A. Nature 490, 535–538 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Templeton, A. R. in Epistasis and the Evolutionary Process (eds Wolf, J. B., Brodie, E. D. III & Wade, M. J.) 41–57 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2000).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Fisher, R. A. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (Clarendon, 1930).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Günter P. Wagner.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wagner, G. The inner life of proteins. Nature 490, 493–494 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/490493a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/490493a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing