Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Do genes matter in evolutionary biology?
In this lecture, we confront this odd question by telling the story of a forgotten branch of evolutionary theory. You'll meet a whole cast of characters you've never heard of before, and be introduced to the most practical subfield in biology - quantitative genetics.
Timestamps
0:00 - Do genes matter?
4:10 - Wendel Mitchell Levi & The Pigeon
13:34 - Mendelian genetics
33:56 - Who was Francis Galton?
42:17 - Regression to the mean
48:59 - Law of Ancestral Heredity
56:44 - Who was Karl Pearson?
59:25 - Statistical selection theory
1:06:27 - Fisher (1918) & Deriving the infinitesimal model
1:35:00 - Implications of the infinitesimal model
1:40:40 - Jay Lush & Animal Breeding Plans
1:50:04 - Unifying population and quantitative genetics
1:56:20 - Efficiency of selection in the infinitesimal regime
2:01:20 - Conclusion
References
Barton, N. (2022) pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2122147119
Tautz, D. et al. (2026) academic.oup.com/genetics/advance-article/doi/10.1093/genetics/iyag024/8488818?guestAccessKey=
Boyle, E.A. et al. (2017) cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30629-3
Barton, N. et al. (2017) sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040580917300886
Hledick, M. et al. (2022) pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2123152119
Fisher, R.A. (1918) http://l.academicdirect.org/Horticulture/GAs/Refs/Fisher_1918_Correlation.pdf
Robertson, A. (1960) royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/153/951/234/30959/A-theory-of-limits-in-artificial-selection
Pigeon genetics: https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/
Nick Barton on the infinitesimal: youtu.be/dz3YzaV4ZIA?si=k8qrzkx7Ep26IJ69
Subhadra Das on Galton: youtu.be/NPaalX30k7Y?si=JO4_VryHBNRcnOPS
Fisher's fundamental theorem: youtu.be/8zIWf-dd398?si=II0RfzyXZ9XRU86q
Do genes matter in evolutionary biology?
In this lecture, we confront this odd question by telling the story of a forgotten branch of evolutionary theory. You'll meet a whole cast of characters you've never heard of before, and be introduced to the most practical subfield in biology - quantitative genetics.
Timestamps
0:00 - Do genes matter?
4:10 - Wendel Mitchell Levi & The Pigeon
13:34 - Mendelian genetics
33:56 - Who was Francis Galton?
42:17 - Regression to the mean
48:59 - Law of Ancestral Heredity
56:44 - Who was Karl Pearson?
59:25 - Statistical selection theory
1:06:27 - Fisher (1918) & Deriving the infinitesimal model
1:35:00 - Implications of the infinitesimal model
1:40:40 - Jay Lush & Animal Breeding Plans
1:50:04 - Unifying population and quantitative genetics
1:56:20 - Efficiency of selection in the infinitesimal regime
2:01:20 - Conclusion
References
Barton, N. (2022) pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2122147119
Tautz, D. et al. (2026) academic.oup.com/genetics/advance-article/doi/10.1093/genetics/iyag024/8488818?guestAccessKey=
Boyle, E.A. et al. (2017) cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)30629-3
Barton, N. et al. (2017) sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040580917300886
Hledick, M. et al. (2022) pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2123152119
Fisher, R.A. (1918) http://l.academicdirect.org/Horticulture/GAs/Refs/Fisher_1918_Correlation.pdf
Robertson, A. (1960) royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/153/951/234/30959/A-theory-of-limits-in-artificial-selection
Pigeon genetics: https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/
Nick Barton on the infinitesimal: youtu.be/dz3YzaV4ZIA?si=k8qrzkx7Ep26IJ69
Subhadra Das on Galton: youtu.be/NPaalX30k7Y?si=JO4_VryHBNRcnOPS
Fisher's fundamental theorem: youtu.be/8zIWf-dd398?si=II0RfzyXZ9XRU86q
