ArticleBioscience2021
Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Biology.
Article in Bioscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Fascination with RNA Editing: In the Lights of Evolution and Biology.Journal of molecular evolution · 2025Review
- Predictability, an Orrery, and a Speciation Machine: Quest for a Standard Model of Speciation.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology · 2024Review
- In Silico Analysis of Tetrodotoxin Binding in Voltage-Gated Sodium Ion Channels from Toxin-Resistant Animal Lineages.Marine drugs · 2022Article
- Genetic basis of speciation and adaptation: from loci to causative mutations.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Landscape Genomics Provides Evidence of Ecotypic Adaptation and a Barrier to Gene Flow at Treeline for the Arctic Foundation SpeciesFrontiers in plant science · 2022Article
- Speciation dynamics and extent of parallel evolution along a lake-stream environmental contrast in African cichlid fishes.Science advances · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
A key question in biology is the predictability of the evolutionary process. If we can correctly predict the outcome of evolution, we may be better equipped to anticipate and manage species' adaptation to climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, or emerging infectious diseases, as well as improve our basic understanding of the history of life on Earth. In the present article, we ask the questions when, why, and if the outcome of future evolution is predictable. We first define predictable and then discuss two conflicting views: that evolution is inherently unpredictable and that evolution is predictable given the ability to collect the right data. We identify factors that generate unpredictability, the data that might be required to make predictions at some level of precision or at a specific timescale, and the intellectual and translational value of understanding when prediction is or is not possible.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.