Athena
TR
Idea / theory / claimBranches1968

The neutral theory

Motoo KimuraJack KingThomas JukesTomoko Ohta

This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method

For everyone

Kimura proposed that most changes at the molecular level (in DNA and protein sequences) arise not by selection but by the random spread (genetic drift) of mutations that are neither beneficial nor harmful. The theory arose as a challenge to the role of Darwinian selection at the molecular level. Debates about how pervasive selection is continue today.

For specialists

The theory explains high levels of protein polymorphism and the relative constancy of the molecular clock by the fixation of selectively neutral alleles through drift. For a neutral mutation the substitution rate equals the mutation rate (k = μ). Ohta's nearly neutral theory adds the population-size-dependent effect of weak selection. Kern and Hahn (2018) argued that genomic data show pervasive linked selection and that the neutral theory should be abandoned; Jensen et al. (2019) disputed this.

Claims

Evidence

Supporting

Genetic data

The roughly constant rate of change in protein sequences across lineages (the molecular clock) matches the neutral theory's prediction.[1]

Methodological critique

It was argued that the neutral theory is indispensable as a null hypothesis against which claims of selection must be tested.[4]

Challenging

Genetic data

Genomic data show widespread effects of linked selection on genetic diversity, patterns the neutral model fails to explain.[3]

Connections

Parent

Views on the origin and diversity of living things

Argues against

The modern synthesis (neo-Darwinism)

This topic is a stop on these journeys

Views on the origin of living things · stop 6/11

Show in tree →

Sources

  1. ArticleKimura, M. (1968). Evolutionary rate at the molecular level. Nature 217, 624–626DOI 10.1038/217624a0archive
  2. ArticleKing, J. L.; Jukes, T. H. (1969). Non-Darwinian evolution. Science 164, 788–798DOI 10.1126/science.164.3881.788archive
  3. ArticleKern, A. D.; Hahn, M. W. (2018). The neutral theory in light of natural selection. Molecular Biology and Evolution 35(6), 1366–1371DOI 10.1093/molbev/msy092archive
  4. ArticleJensen, J. D. et al. (2019). The importance of the Neutral Theory in 1968 and 50 years on: a response to Kern and Hahn 2018. Evolution 73(1)DOI 10.1111/evo.13650archive

Search the literature

Look for scholarly work on this topic in other indexes:

Google Scholar ↗Semantic Scholar ↗BASE ↗CORE ↗PubMed ↗DergiPark ↗

Cite this page

APA

Athena contributors. (2026). The neutral theory. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/notr-teori/

BibTeX
@misc{athena_notr_teori,
  title        = {The neutral theory},
  author       = {{Athena contributors}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/notr-teori/}},
  note         = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}

Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history

✎ Suggest a correction