As Helena Cronin would put in her book The Ant and the Peacock, “ It is the net selective value of a gene’s phenotypic effect that determines the fate of the gene.” The genes do their work through “phenotypes” – the physical representation of their information.

The Selfish Gene makes a particular kind of case: Specific gene variants grow in proportion to a gene pool by, on average, creating advantaged physical bodies and brains. Advantageous genes were propagated in greater numbers. These genes were passed on to offspring in a particular way – the process of heredity. The mechanism of heredity was invisible to Darwin, but a series of scientists, not without a little argument, had figured it out by the 1970’s: Strands of the protein DNA (“genes”) encoded instructions for the building of physical structures. We’re all hopefully familiar with this concept: Species evolve over long periods time through a process of heredity, variation, competition, and differential survival. More than 100 years before The Selfish Gene, Charles Darwin had famously outlined his Theory of Natural Selection in The Origin of Species. This leads most people to a very “competition focused” view of life. The individual bodies (phenotypes) are simply carrying out the instructions of the genes. Often labeled “pop science”, The Selfish Gene pulls together the “gene-centered” view of evolution: It is not really individuals being selected for in the competition for life, but their genes. Richard Dawkins has one of the best-selling books of all time for a serious piece of scientific writing.

Dawkins the selfish gene