Nasser-Eddin Rateb Dweik
Charles Darwin summarized his theory of evolution in few words, "descent with modification". Evolution means change or more accurately heritable change that affects DNA sequence. Heritable changes depend on occurrence of favorable mutations that Darwin named modifications, so, favorable mutations represent the pillars that support the idea of evolution. As far as no scientist had recognized and tested a specific favorable mutation, then the favorable mutation concept remains speculative and theoretical. Validation of this theoretical concept needs strong, physical and testable evidence.
Biologists rely on time factor when they try to explain evolution theory; evolution occurs through accumulation of favorable mutations and no one can live tens of thousands of years to see it happen, especially long generational time organisms. Thus the time factor remains a mysterious thing or an umbrella under which every biological change is achievable. To make evolution issue more realistic and scientific, it is important to look for an alternative item to replace or substitute the time factor. In this article, an attempt has been made to substitute the time factor with an equivalent or even more accurate item which is the number of offspring. Number of offspring may be the best physical indicator for detecting incidence of favorable mutations and subsequently evolution. It is known that phenotypes of offspring represent a showroom of mutations’ effects on individuals. Here a novel principle is presented; Principle of Trading Time with Offspring number, to test incidence of favorable mutations and subsequently its impact on evolution.
