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Mutation is the source of genetic diversity on which natural selection acts, therefore understanding the rates of mutations is crucial for understanding evolutionary trajectories. In this Opinion article, the authors discuss how emerging experimental mutation-rate data from genome-wide sequencing studies, combined with population-genetic theory, can provide unifying explanations for the diversity in mutation rates between species and across genomic locations.
Formal representations of Waddington's epigenetic landscape represent cell fate decisions as smooth, continuous events in which cells follow predetermined trajectories. Here, the authors provide an alternative interpretation and posit that fate decisions are discontinuous, stochastic events within cell lineages.
In this Opinion article, the authors discuss important questions relating to the study ofde novo genes. They discuss the challenges of identifying de novogenes, understanding how they originate and why they spread, and propose that antagonistic evolution may have a key role in their evolution.
