The purpose of this book is to present a new theory of mutation-driven evolution, which is based on recent advances in genomics and evolutionary developmental biology. This theory asserts that the driving force of evolution is mutation and natural selection is of the secondary importance. Here mutation includes any kinds of changes in DNA such as nucleotide substitutions, gene duplications/deletions, chromosomal changes, and genome duplications. A brief history of
evolutionary theories (Darwinism, mutationism, neo-Darwinism, neo-mutationism) that preceded the theory of mutation-driven evolution is also presented. However, the main body of the book is concerned
with recent studies of genomics and molecular basis of phenotypic evolution and their relevance to mutation-driven evolution. Unlike the currently popular neo-Darwinism, mutation-driven evolution is capable of explaining real examples of evolution such as the evolution of olfactory receptors, sex-determination in animals, and general scheme of hybrid sterility. In this sense, the theory of mutation-driven evolution is more realistic than older theories and gives a more logical explanation of
various evolutionary events.