A New Take on John Maynard Smith's Concept of Protein Space for Understanding Molecular Evolution
Name
Ogbunugafor-2016-A New Take on John Maynard Sm.pdf
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1.4 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
6ef6107cb36837fef1dac0e6bc936112
Author(s)
Ogbunugafor, C. Brandon
Hartl, Daniel
Date Issued
October 2016
Journal
PLOS Computational Biology
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Citation
Ogbunugafor, C. Brandon, and Hartl, Daniel L. “A New Take on John Maynard Smith’s Concept of Protein Space for Understanding Molecular Evolution.” Ed. Francis Ouellette. PLOS Computational Biology 12.10 (2016): e1005046. © 2016 Ogbunugafor and Hartl
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Much of the public lacks a proper understanding of Darwinian evolution, a problem that can be addressed with new learning and teaching approaches to be implemented both inside the classroom and in less formal settings. Few analogies have been as successful in communicating the basics of molecular evolution as John Maynard Smith’s protein space analogy (1970), in which he compared protein evolution to the transition between the terms WORD and GENE, changing one letter at a time to yield a different, meaningful word (in his example, the preferred path was WORD → WORE → GORE → GONE → GENE). Using freely available computer science tools (Google Books Ngram Viewer), we offer an update to Maynard Smith’s analogy and explain how it might be developed into an exploratory and pedagogical device for understanding the basics of molecular evolution and, more specifically, the adaptive landscape concept. We explain how the device works through several examples and provide resources that might facilitate its use in multiple settings, ranging from public engagement activities to formal instruction in evolution, population genetics, and computational biology.
MIT Department
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005046
