| Abstract: | The development of resistance to pesticides in populations of organisms as diverse as those of bacteria, insects and mammals, provides outstanding examples of adaptation by natural selection. The integration of Mendelian genetics and the Darwinian hypothesis, known as the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution, can account for such genetic responses to changes in environment. There is one problem: that of its weak falsifiability. Selected subsets of theory can explain almost anything. An attempt is made to identify phenomena that are involved in adaptive responses of higher organisms to changes in environment. These are discussed with particular reference to the development of resistance in mammalian populations. Recent developments in genetics pertinent to this problem are outlined. |
