Abstract
Recent research in molecular developmental biology has shown that the stochastic character of development (i.e., developmental noise) can produce phenotypic heterogeneity even in the absence of any other source of change (genetic and environmental). More precisely, developmental noise triggers phenotypic heterogeneity amongst the members of a clonal population (synchronic heterogeneity) and even within an individual organism over time (diachronic heterogeneity), in a stable and homogeneous environment. This paper deals with such stochasticity in order to explore its epistemological relevance and role, both as explanans and as explanandum. First, I investigate whether developmental noise is part of the explanation of the physical characteristics of individual organisms (i.e., the phenotypic outcome of development). Then, I try to assess whether or not heterogeneity due to stochastic events in development can be explained by a selective-evolutionary history. My final aim is to argue for the two following theses. First, from the developmental point of view, I argue that developmental biologists need to take into account developmental noise in order to explain the uniqueness of each individual organism and its own heterogeneity over time, at the phenotypic level at least, that genetic and environmental changes cannot explain alone. Second, from the evolutionary point of view, I critically evaluate explanations of developmental stochasticity in term of adaptation, in particular the idea that noise is a trait that has been selected to increase the capacity of natural populations to evolve (“evolvability”). Then, I identify other ways in which biologists should try to explain developmental noise. I conclude by highlighting the limits of any univocal explanatory approach in biology.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
For a review, see Johnston and Desplan (2010).
- 4.
For a critical evaluation of Developmental Systems Theory, in particular its formulation by Oyama, on the one hand, and Griffiths and Gray, on the other hand, see Barberousse et al. (2009).
- 5.
Suggesting that noise could also play the role of “capturing some typical features, stages, or mechanisms of development”, an anonymous reviewer pointed at the fact that developmental noise is common to all organisms: rather than a challenge, it could represent an additional, relevant, element for the explanation of developmental processes that different organisms have in common. Moreover, it could provide an explanation of why development is so robust to external perturbations. For instance, it could be argued that, as source of internal variability, developmental noise could provide living systems with a certain amount of flexibility, allowing them to cope with external disturbances, and so reliably develop regardless of environmental contingencies.
- 6.
For a direct critical argument against Humphreys’ position in the specific case of the explanatory role of random genetic drift, see Millstein (1997).
- 7.
For a discussion of such explanatory diversity see Morange (2015, this volume).
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Claude Desplan and Mathias Wernet for providing Fig. 5.4.
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Merlin, F. (2015). Developmental Noise: Explaining the Specific Heterogeneity of Individual Organisms. In: Explanation in Biology. History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, vol 11. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9822-8_5
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