Molecular mechanisms in genetic stability and change: the role of deoxyribonucleotide pool balance.

Abstract

For both theoretical and practical reasons, elucidation of the dialectical processes of genetic stability and change is one of the central problems of biology. The molecular basis of evolution resides in the intimately associated mechanisms of heredity and mutagenesis, which together have led gradually to the accumulation of a vast store of genetic variation within gene pools. Although the actual course of evolution is mediated by natural selection, in the absence of variation, selection can do nothing [7]. Heredity is a manifestation of the stability of genes from one generation to the next. It is necessary for the formation of normal progeny, and for the integrity and longevity of species. Genetic variation is a manifestation of the instability of genes, and of the ‘fluidity’ of the genome. It is responsible, ultimately, for the origin of species, but more immediately, for a substantial number of serious human diseases, including cancer.