These “survival machines” (22), or organisms, represent a variation of the primeval soup in which the replicators first arose. Through the constant mixing of genes in the gene pool of a species, surviving varieties become ever more prevalent. According to Dawkins, the replicators themselves (genes) evolve over time, while their hosts (organisms) die out every generation. The machines, at the individual or group levels (such as a single organism or an entire species), contain large collections of replicators. These machines now take the forms of plants and animals, including humans. Due to competition over limited resources in their environment, replicators built increasingly complex machines to protect themselves. Among numerous molecules, these replicators rapidly copied their way to predominance. However, Dawkins makes it more explicit, to place it at the core of evolutionary biology.Īccording to Dawkins, genes developed as self-replicating molecules in Earth’s oceans. Since Darwin, biologists into the 20th century gradually developed the genetic perspective of evolution. However, viewing evolution through the perspective of the gene opens new possibilities. Evolution applies to organisms and their genes, and either view could have equal validity. Dawkins also extends Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by investigating the progression of individual genes.
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