An Illustrated Introduction to the Basic Biological Principles

Abstract

Both external environmental selection and internal lower-level evolution are essential for an integral picture of evolution. This paper proposes that the division of internal evolution into DNA/RNA pattern formation (genotype) and protein functional action (phenotype) resolves a universal conflict between fitness and evolvability. Specifically, this paper explains how this universal conflict drove the emergence of genotype-phenotype division, why this labor division is responsible for the extraordinary complexity of life, and how the specific ways of genotype-phenotype mapping in the labor division determine the paths and forms of evolution and development.