title: Alternative splicing, the gene concept, and evolution.
abstract: Alternative splicing allows for the production of many gene products from a single coding sequence. I introduce the concept of alternative splicing via some examples. I then discuss some current hypotheses about the explanatory role of alternative splicing, including the claim that splicing is a significant contributor to the difference in complexity between the human genome and proteosome. Hypotheses such as these bring into question our working concepts of the gene. I examine several gene concepts introduced to cope with processes such as alternative splicing. Next I introduce some hypotheses about the evolution of mechanisms alternative splicing in higher organisms. I conclude that attention to alternative splicing reveals that we adopt an attitude that developmental theorizing must inform evolutionary theorizing and vice versa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Downes
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003210:Concept Formation; D005796:Genes; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology; D010684:Philosophy