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The gene can be described as the foundational concept of modern biology. As such, it has spilled over into daily discourse, yet it is acknowledged among biologists to be ill-defined. Here, following a short history of the gene, I analyse critically its role in inheritance, evolution, development, and morphogenesis. Wilhelm Johannsen's genotype-conception, formulated in 1910, has been adopted as the foundation stone of genetics, giving the gene a higher degree of prominence than is justified by the evidence. An analysis of the results of the Long-Term Evolution Experiment (LTEE) with E. coli bacteria, grown over 60,000 generations, does not support spontaneous gene mutation as the source of variance for natural selection. From this it follows that the gene is not Mendel's unit of inheritance: that must be Johannsen's transmission-conception at the gamete phenotype level, a form of inheritance that Johannsen did not consider. Alternatively, I contend that biology viewed on the bases of thermodynamics, complex system dynamics, and self-organisation, provides a new framework for the foundations of biology. In this framework, the gene plays a passive role as a vital information store: it is the phenotype that plays the active role in inheritance, evolution, development, and morphogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): Dillwyn Williams [1]; Keith Baverstock [2] [illus. 1] Why should we still be concerned about the Chernobyl accident after 20 years, some 3,000 papers and many conferences? One reason [...]

A major increase in cases of thyroid cancer among children in six regions of Belarus is attributable to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident of Apr 26, 1986. The largest increase occurred at the Gomel region directly north of Chernobyl. Other regions farther from Chernobyl had much smaller increases, suggesting that fallout caused the rise in cases. In addition, an examination of 11 of these children confirmed the fallout's carcinogenic effect on the thyroid.