Abstract
Medawar (1952) and Williams (1957) proposed that the natural selection favors the accumulation of the “best” characteristics in relatively early periods of life and of the “worst” in later, post-reproductive periods. The ageing of an organism is, according to this theory, a by-product of selective pressures. Williams (1957) has extended Medawar’s concept and pointed out that evolutionary adaptations, depending on the stage of development, may have a double effect. At a certain stage, a complex of genes may increase the probability of survival, whereas at another developmental stage the same genes may have negative effects, i.e., they can decrease the probability of survival of individuals which carry them.
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Marinković, D., Tucić, N. (1982). Contribution to the Evolutionary Theory of Ageing. IV. Age-Associated Changes and Developmental Programmes in Drosophila. In: Lakovaara, S. (eds) Advances in Genetics, Development, and Evolution of Drosophila. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8321-9_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-8321-9_17
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