Theory that genetic diversity is the adaptive advantage of sex
On the other view, stress is a signal to
the cell that it is experiencing a change in the environment to a more
adverse condition. Under this new condition, it may be beneficial to produce progeny
that differ from the parent in their genetic make up. Among these
varied progeny, some may be more adapted to the changed condition than
their parents. Meiosis generates genetic variation in the diploid cell,
in part by the exchange of genetic information between the pairs of
chromosomes after they align (recombination). Thus, on this view, the advantage
of meiosis is that it facilitates the generation of genomic diversity
among progeny, allowing adaptation to adverse changes in the
environment.
However, as also pointed out by Otto and Gerstein, in the presence of a fairly stable environment, individuals surviving to reproductive age have genomes that function well in their current environment. They raise the question of why such individuals should risk shuffling their genes with those of another individual, as occurs during meiotic recombination? Considerations such as this have led many investigators to question whether genetic diversity is the adaptive advantage of sex.
However, as also pointed out by Otto and Gerstein, in the presence of a fairly stable environment, individuals surviving to reproductive age have genomes that function well in their current environment. They raise the question of why such individuals should risk shuffling their genes with those of another individual, as occurs during meiotic recombination? Considerations such as this have led many investigators to question whether genetic diversity is the adaptive advantage of sex.
