GCSE Biology · AQA 8461 · Topic 4.6.3
How our understanding of genetics and evolution developed
Key points
- Darwin proposed natural selection after the voyage of the Beagle; his ideas were slow to be accepted because of religious views and limited evidence at the time.
- Lamarck wrongly suggested that changes acquired during life are passed on.
- Wallace independently proposed natural selection and studied warning colouration and speciation.
- Mendel used pea plants to show that characteristics are passed on as separate 'units' (now called genes).
- Evidence for evolution: fossils (though the record is incomplete as soft tissue rarely fossilises) and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which evolve quickly.
- Extinction can be caused by new diseases, predators, competitors, habitat change or catastrophic events.
- Resistance spreads when antibiotics are overused or courses are not finished, so doctors prescribe them carefully.
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Scientific ideas about inheritance and evolution took a long time to develop and were often resisted. This sub-topic covers the key scientists, the evidence for evolution, and how species form or become extinct.
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