Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2008; all rights reserved.
Commentary: On Haldane's ‘defense of beanbag genetics’
Department of Biology, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA. E-mail: wewens@sas.upenn.edu
Accepted 23 January 2008
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Introduction |
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It is now almost 45 years since Haldane's ‘Defense of beanbag genetics’1 appeared, and the time is ripe for an evaluation of that defence, particularly in the light of developments over the last two decades. This deliberately provocative review is divided into four parts: first, a discussion of why Haldane felt that a defence was necessary; second, a review of what his defence actually was; third, suggestions as to what his defence should have been; and fourth, a discussion of what changes might be made to the defence had it been written now and not in 1964.
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Why did Haldane defend ‘beanbag genetics’? |
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Haldane's ‘defense of beanbag genetics’ arose from two comments made by Mayr in 1959 and 1963, respectively. The 1963 comment did little more than introduce the ‘beanbag’ expression, and was made at the beginning of Chapter 10 in his classic book Animal Species and Evolution.2 Mayr stated that: ‘The Mendelian was apt
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A review of the ‘defense’ |
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What should the defence have been? |
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The current situation |
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