The Selfish Gene

by Richard Dawkins

The earliest form of natural selection was simply a selection of stable forms and a rejection of unstable ones.

They have come a long way, those replicators. Now they go by

the name of genes, and we are their survival machines.

A gene is defined as any portion of chromosomal material that potentially lasts for enough generations to serve as a unit of natural selection.

The smaller a genetic unit is, the more likely it is that another individual shares it—the more likely it is to be represented many times over in the world, in the form of copies.

A point mutation is an error corresponding to a single misprinted letter in a book.

It is rare, but clearly the longer a genetic unit is, the more likely it is to be altered by a mutation somewhere along its length.

A piece of chromosome detaches itself at both ends, turns head over heels, and reattaches itself in the inverted position.

The gene is defined as a piece of chromosome which is sufficiently short for it to last, potentially, for long enough for it to function as a significant unit of natural selection.

can we think of any universal qualities that we would expect to find in all good (i.e. long-lived) genes?

at the gene level, altruism must be bad and selfishness good.

general quality that successful genes will have is a tendency to postpone the death of their survival machines at least until after reproduction.