The most striking feature of biological systems is their irreversibility. Molecules decompose. Organs fail. People die. In evolutionary terms, the combination of natural selection acting on individual variation produced by preceding rounds of selection means that evolutionary history is essentially irreversible. Evolutionary biologists have long recognized the statistical improbability of following the same evolutionary history, even when environmental conditions may be similar, which of course itself is virtually impossible. The same irreversibility pervades all our lives, from the development of our bodies, to cell division, to molecular interactions and biochemistry that sustain living things.
Life time.
Life time.
Life time.
The most striking feature of biological systems is their irreversibility. Molecules decompose. Organs fail. People die. In evolutionary terms, the combination of natural selection acting on individual variation produced by preceding rounds of selection means that evolutionary history is essentially irreversible. Evolutionary biologists have long recognized the statistical improbability of following the same evolutionary history, even when environmental conditions may be similar, which of course itself is virtually impossible. The same irreversibility pervades all our lives, from the development of our bodies, to cell division, to molecular interactions and biochemistry that sustain living things.