ReviewDevelopment (Cambridge, England)2024
The case against simplistic genetic explanations of evolution.
Review in Development (Cambridge, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- A putativebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of conserved non-coding elements identifies gene regulatory networks rewired during the water-to-land transition in vertebrates.Biologia futura · 2026Article
- Modular genetic architecture underlies human hand and foot evolution.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- The molecular evolution of vertebrate organs.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Review
- Histological Divergence Underlying Globular Body Shapes in Ornamental Goldfish.Zoological studies · 2026Article
- Article
- Young KRAB-zinc finger gene clusters are highly dynamic incubators of ERV-driven genetic heterogeneity in mice.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Cellular and genetic mechanisms that shape the development and evolution of tail vertebral proportion in mice and jerboas.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps.Nature · 2025Article
- Distinct gene regulatory dynamics drive skeletogenic cell fate convergence during vertebrate embryogenesis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Diversity ofFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
Humans are curious to understand the causes of traits that distinguish us from other animals and that distinguish vastly different species from one another. We also have a proclivity for simple stories and sometimes tend toward seeking and accepting simple genetic explanations for large evolutionary shifts, even to a single gene. Here, I reveal how a biased expectation of mechanistic simplicity threads through the long history of evolutionary and developmental genetics. I argue, however, that expecting a simple mechanism threatens a deeper understanding of evolution, and I define the limitations for interpreting experimental evidence in evolutionary developmental genetics.
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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.