2021/02/19 by Sergio A. Muñoz-Gómez, Gaurav Bilolikar, Jeremy G. Wideman +1 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s00239-021-09996-y
openalex publication_date 2021/02/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Evolution has led to a great diversity that ranges from elegant simplicity to ornate complexity. Many complex features are often assumed to be more functional or adaptive than their simpler alternatives. However, in 1999, Arlin Stolzfus published a paper in the Journal of Molecular Evolution that outlined a framework in which complexity can arise through a series of non-adaptive steps. He called this framework Constructive Neutral Evolution (CNE). Despite its two-decade-old roots, many evolutionary biologists still appear to be unaware of this explanatory framework for the origins of complexity. In this perspective piece, we explain the theory of CNE and how it changes the order of events in narratives that describe the evolution of complexity. We also provide an extensive list of cellular features that may have become more complex through CNE. We end by discussing strategies to determine whether complexity arose through neutral or adaptive processes.