Herein will be discussed the problems associated with the origin of species according to Darwinist processes of individual mutations. We will argue that individual mutations cannot be the driving force of species origination. A far more probable explanation is a process of collective mutation that affects numerous individuals near simultaneously akin to an infectious disease. These types of mutations might be precipitated by viruses which would create a discontinuous leap into another species. Such a mechanism also sheds light on the increased rate of evolution observed currently

Iosif M. Gershteyn

Mikhail L.  Gershteyn

English

Nature Precedings

Evolution is Viral
The Theory  of Collective Discontinuous Evolution
Mikhail L. Gershteyn and Iosif M. Gershteyn
Insight Product Co. LLC
Synopsis:
Herein will be discussed the problems associated with the origin of species according to Darwinist processes of
individual mutations. We will argue that individual mutations cannot be the driving force of species origination. A far more
probable explanation is a process of collective mutation that affects numerous individuals near simultaneously akin to an
infectious disease. These types of mutations might be precipitated by viruses which would create a discontinuous leap
into another species. Such a mechanism also sheds light on the increased rate of evolution observed currently.
I) Darwinian Evolution
According to Darwinian evolution (1), new species occur as a result of two processes;
1) Random individual inheritable mutations (in common parlance – random mutation).
2) Natural  Selection –  whereby mutations  that  increases  fitness  in  a given environ proliferate  throughout  the
population.
Yet it is most important to note that for an individual mutation to proliferate throughout a population it must allow
for the creation of viable offspring. It is a central property of a species that viable offspring can only occur within the
species, and that inter-species mating will not result in viable offspring (offspring that can produce offspring). Therefore
the Darwinian methods fails to account for the origin of species; for if a random mutation created a new species this
individual  would  not  be  able  to  father  or  bear  viable  offspring.  Secondly  the  chances  of  there  being  two
identical/compatible random mutations of individuals occurring at the same time and location seems remote, at least to
explain every new species.
Among the main differentiators of species, genetically speaking, are the varying numbers of chromosomal pairs
(2). This compounds further the problems associated with random individual mutations being the driving force of species
origination. It is hard to imagine such a mutation that would spawn a new chromosome in an individual, and the fact that
there would have to be both a male and female with the aforementioned new chromosome, that would have to be
compatible, and happen during the same generation, in the same location, makes this explanation very unlikely.
The attempt to explain species origination as a continuous chain of mutations that branch off for geographic
reasons  is  also  lacking  as  the  inherent  contradiction  lies  in  the  fact  that  different  species  are  qualitatively,  not
quantitatively  different  from  each  other.  If  this  was  the  process  of  evolution  in  whole,  then  there  wouldn’t  be
differentiation of species, as offspring within a species are necessarily of the same species.
II) New Theory – Collective Discontinuous Evolution
The only mechanism that  would  overcome these issues in  Darwinian  evolutionary theory would  be a non-
individual process that would affect a localized group simultaneously or nearly simultaneously.
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 An example of such a process is found with numerous infections diseases. In this case we propose that the cause of
the origin of species are similar to infections that change the genetic composition of the individuals. It is known that there
are viruses which affect gene code (e.g.3), therefore it does not take a great leap of faith to imagine that similar viruses
are the mechanism of collective evolution. If this is the case then we can expect to see viruses that can insert new code
or cut code out in a similar mannar to multiple individuals in a population. In this case the group members affected by
the virus would be able to produce viable offspring and develop a new species.
III) Acceleration of Evolution
This theory makes it easier to understand why the speed of evolution increases over time. The two processes that
precipitate this acceleration are the increased length of gene code (more targets) and increased number of viruses that
seek to modify the gene code. This process is analogous to the growth in computer viruses with growth in amount and
complexity of software giving rise to the increase in virus permutations.
IV) Conclusion
The article presents an quasi-infectious model of the origin of species. This theory allows to overcome the problems and
inconsistencies of Darwinian models of evolution and the origin of species. The theory may motivate experiments which
would search for viruses that cut chromosomes and the ideal confirmation of theory would be to create a species in a
laboratory using exclusively viral methods.
The authors would like to acknowledge Anatole A. Klyosov for bringing to the author's attention problems associated
with Darwinian explanation of species origination.
References
1. Darwin, Charles (1859).  On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life (1st ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 1435393864.
 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F373&viewtype=text&pageseq=1. Retrieved 2008-10-24. 
2. Wikipedia contributors. "List of organisms by chromosome count." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia, 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 2 Nov. 2010. 
3.  Katherine Harmon,  Ancient "Fossil" Virus Shows Infection to Be Millions of Years Old Genetic traces of an ancient
hepatitis B-like virus confounds common knowledge about viral evolution, Scientific American September 29, 2010 8
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fossil-virus-bird-genome  
First draft submitted to Nature 11/2/10
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Ancient &quot;Fossil&quot; Virus Shows Infection to Be Millions of Years Old Genetic traces of an ancient hepatitis B-like virus confounds common knowledge about viral evolution,

Charles (1859). On the Origin of Species by

Wikipedia contributors. &quot;List of organisms by chromosome count.&quot; Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Evolution is Viral: The Theory  of Collective Discontinuous Evolution

AbstractHerein will be discussed the problems associated with the origin of species according to Darwinist processes of individual mutations. We will argue that individual mutations cannot be the driving force of species origination. A far more probable explanation is a process of collective mutation that affects numerous individuals near simultaneously akin to an infectious disease. These types of mutations might be precipitated by viruses which would create a discontinuous leap into another species. Such a mechanism also sheds light on the increased rate of evolution observed currently.</jats:p

Evolution is Viral: The Theory of Collective Discontinuous Evolution

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