Editing Quasispecies model (section)

{{Short description|Darwinian evolution of self-replicating entities within framework of physical chemistry}}
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The '''quasispecies model''' is a description of the process of the Darwinian [[evolution]] of certain [[self-replication|self-replicating]] entities within the framework of [[physical chemistry]]. A quasispecies is a large group or "'''cloud'''" of related [[genotype]]s that exist in an environment of high mutation rate (at stationary state<ref name=eigen1989 >{{cite journal|last1=Eigen|first1=Manfred|last2=McCaskill|first2=John|last3=Schuster|first3=Peter|title=Molecular quasi-species|journal=The Journal of Physical Chemistry|language=en|volume=92|issue=24|pages=6881–6891|doi=10.1021/j100335a010|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-002C-84A7-C|isbn=9780471622192|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|year=1989}}</ref>), where a large fraction of offspring are expected to contain one or more mutations relative to the parent.  This is in contrast to a [[species]], which from an evolutionary perspective is a more-or-less stable single genotype, most of the offspring of which will be genetically accurate copies.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Biebricher, C.K |author2=Eigen, M. |chapter=What is a Quasispecies|editor=Esteban Domingo|title=Quasispecies: Concept and Implications for Virology|publisher=Springer|year=2006|isbn=978-3-540-26395-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/quasispeciesconc0000unse/page/1 1]|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/quasispeciesconc0000unse/page/1}}</ref>

It is useful mainly in providing a qualitative understanding of the evolutionary processes of self-replicating macromolecules such as [[RNA]] or [[DNA]] or simple asexual organisms such as [[bacterium|bacteria]] or [[virus]]es (see also [[viral quasispecies]]), and is helpful in explaining something of the early stages of the [[Abiogenesis|origin of life]]. Quantitative predictions based on this model are difficult because the parameters that serve as its input are impossible to obtain from actual biological systems. The quasispecies model was put forward by [[Manfred Eigen]] and [[Peter Schuster]]<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Eigen M, Schuster P |year=1979 |title=The Hypercycle: A Principle of Natural Self-Organization |publisher=Springer-Verlag |location=Berlin |isbn=978-0-387-09293-5}}</ref> based on initial work done by Eigen.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Eigen M | title = Selforganization of matter and the evolution of biological macromolecules | journal = Die Naturwissenschaften | volume = 58 | issue = 10 | pages = 465–523 | date = October 1971 | pmid = 4942363 | doi = 10.1007/BF00623322 | bibcode = 1971NW.....58..465E | s2cid = 38296619 }}</ref>