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Evolutionary biology

Sex and synergism

Nature volume 390, pages 19–21 (1997)Cite this article

“In short, it seems certain — and here we must simply grit our teeth and swallow — that it is impossible to understand the function of sex without both a firm grasp of the rival hypotheses, their assumptions, logical development and consequences, and also a reasonably comprehensive knowledge of the nature, occurrence and correlates of sexual systems in nature.” Graham Bell1 wrote this 15 years ago. His comments illustrate, in a nutshell, the reasons behind a conference held late this summer to examine the enduring mystery of the prevalence of sexual reproductionFootnote 1.

*Summer School on the Evolution and Maintenance of Sex, Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, Seewiesen, Germany, 10-17 August 1997.

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Notes

  1. *Summer School on the Evolution and Maintenance of Sex, Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, Seewiesen, Germany, 10-17 August 1997.

References

  1. Bell, G. The Masterpiece of Nature: The Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 1982).

  2. Michod, R. E. & Levin, B. R. The Evolution of Sex (Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 1988).

  3. Weismann, A. Essays Upon Heredity (Clarendon, Oxford, 1889).

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  1. Emily J. Lyons is in the Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, 47405, Indiana, USA

    Emily J. Lyons

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Lyons, E. Sex and synergism. Nature 390, 19–21 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/36213

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