Frozen Evolution. Or, that’s not the way it is, Mr. Darwin. A Farewell to Selfish Gene.

Biologically important information is gradually accumulated during evolution. This information is stored and transferred mainly in the form of the structures of certain molecules, usually as a sequence of nucleotides in the DNA molecules. Because biological information and its transfer are closely connected with specific molecules (e.g. DNA) and with particular molecular processes (e.g. replication, reparation), the process of accumulation of this information is also necessarily affected by physical-chemical laws controlling the behavior of these specific molecules and processes. As a consequence, the evolutionary development of biological information and thus, indirectly, also of the phenotype of the organism is necessarily affected not only by natural selection and chance, but also by regular and, to a certain degree, even deterministic processes occurring at the level of the carriers of genetic information. These processes are generally termed evolutionary drives. This chapter will be concerned with mutation drive (bias), reparation drive, molecular drive and meotic drive.