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Quasispecies: From Theory to Experimental Systems pp 1–22Cite as

What Is a Quasispecies? Historical Origins and Current Scope

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 392))

Abstract

The quasispecies concept is introduced by means of a simple theoretical model that uses as little chemical kinetics and mathematics as possible but fully in the spirit of Albert Einstein who said: “Things should be made as simple as possible but not simpler.” More elaborate treatments follow in the forthcoming chapters. It is shown that the most important results of the theory, in particular the existence of error thresholds, are not dependent on simplifying assumptions concerning the distribution of fitness values. Error thresholds are regularly found on landscapes with large and irregular scatter of fitness. After the introduction to theory, it will be shown how experimental data on the evolution of molecules or viruses may be fit to the theoretical model.

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Acknowledgments

Peter Schuster wishes to acknowledge support by the University of Vienna, Wien, Austria and the Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, USA. Esteban Domingo acknowledges the support of grants BFU 2011-23604 and SAF2014-52400-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, grant S2013/ABI-2906 (PLATESA) from Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid, CIBERehd (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas) which is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fundación Ramón Areces.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular “Severo Ochoa” (CSIC-UAM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Esteban Domingo

  2. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Barcelona, Spain

    Esteban Domingo

  3. Institut für Theoretische Chemie der Universität Wien, Währingerstraβe 17, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Peter Schuster

  4. The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA

    Peter Schuster

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  1. Esteban Domingo
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  2. Peter Schuster
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Correspondence to Esteban Domingo or Peter Schuster .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Campus de Cantoblanco, Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain

    Esteban Domingo

  2. The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA and Institut f. Theoretische Chemie, Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria

    Peter Schuster

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Domingo, E., Schuster, P. (2015). What Is a Quasispecies? Historical Origins and Current Scope. In: Domingo, E., Schuster, P. (eds) Quasispecies: From Theory to Experimental Systems. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 392. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/82_2015_453

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