Molecular clock and neutral theory
Reloj molecular y teoría neutralista
- Date
- 1962-1968 · confidence high
- Place
- Caltech, Pasadena, United States / National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan
- Credited to
- Emile Zuckerkandl and Linus Pauling (1962); Motoo Kimura (neutral theory, 1968)
- People
- 👤 Emile Zuckerkandl1922–2013👤 Linus Pauling1901–1994👤 Motō Kimura1924–1994
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Differences between homologous proteins accumulate at an approximately constant rate, allowing evolutionary divergences to be dated; Kimura explained that most molecular changes are neutral.
What it led to
- molecular phylogeny and dating the tree of life
- human-chimpanzee divergence at around 6 million years (Sarich and Wilson)
- Mitochondrial Eve (1987)
- evolutionary genomics
Built on
- Insulin amino acid sequence (Sanger)1951-1955
- protein sequencing
- modern synthesis
Made possible
- computational phylogenetics