Replicator

In the neo-Darwinian synthesis, the centrepiece of the explanation is a physical object—the replicator [5]: something that can be copied from generation to generation, by replication, and selected (between a set of variants) under the environment's action. Instances of replicators in the Earth's biosphere are ‘genes’, i.e. portions of certain DNA molecules.2 Natural selection relies on gene replication, with occasional errors; the appearance of design is explained as adaptations for gene replication; and the rest of the cell or organism (and sometimes other parts of the environment, e.g. nests, [6]) constitutes a vehicle for the replicators.-- Chiara Marletto J R Soc Interface. 2015 Mar 6; 12(104): 20141226. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2014.1226
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Constructor
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