Nothing in Genetics Makes Sense Except in Light of Genomic Conflict

Abstract

Examples of genomic conflict were apparent soon after the inception of the field of modern genetics. Despite these early discoveries, the relevance of genomic conflict to the core principles of genetics has been largely unappreciated. In this synthetic review I will describe why knowledge of the logic and diverse forms of genomic conflict is essential to understanding all subfields of genetics. Because there are so many ways in which some parts of all prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes can evolve to gain a reproductive advantage at the expense of other parts, the prevalence of genomic conflict is universal, and it influences all aspects of genetic form and function.