Degeneracy and complexity in biological systems.
review · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 11698650.
- Also identified by PMC identifier 61115.
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Abstract
Degeneracy, the ability of elements that are structurally different to perform the same function or yield the same output, is a well known characteristic of the genetic code and immune systems. Here, we point out that degeneracy is a ubiquitous biological property and argue that it is a feature of complexity at genetic, cellular, system, and population levels. Furthermore, it is both necessary for, and an inevitable outcome of, natural selection.
Medical subject headings
- Biological Evolution
- Evolution, Molecular