The below is an interview with
Rob Dunn (RRD),
Lucie Ciccone graciously lent their insights and served as additional sets of eyes.
One of the most indefatigable laws of nature is the law of natural selection. Natural selection is, at once, a simple and yet surprising law. Through a simple mechanism, it generates surprising forms. That simple mechanism is this… In any population of organisms, genetic variation exists. That variation encodes differences in the physical traits of organisms which affect their ability to survive and reproduce. Individuals with genes that lead them to have physical traits that make them less likely to survive and reproduce are “selected against.” Their genes are less likely to be passed one generation to the next. Meanwhile, the genes and traits that are left, un-winnowed by nature’s brutal sickle, spread to the next generation; by surviving, they are favored.