I. Walker, PREDICTION OF EVOLUTION - SOMATIC PLASTICITY AS A BASIC, PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITION FOR THE VIABILITY OF GENETIC MUTATIONS, Acta biotheoretica, 44(2), 1996, pp. 165-168
The argument is put forward that genetic mutations are viable then onl
y, when the changed pattern of growth and/or metabolism is accommodate
d by the taxon-specific biochemistry of the organisms, i.e. by adaptiv
e, somatic/physiological plasticity. The range of somatic plasticity u
nder changing environmental conditions, therefore, has a certain predi
ctive value for the kind of mutations that are likely to be viable.