Evolvability
The capacity of a system to generate heritable, selectable variation. A measure of how readily a lineage can adapt to new conditions through evolutionary change.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 5 chapters:
"The 1% that survive inherit the earth. Or in this case, Sarah's lungs. ::: --- Mutation Rates and Evolvability: Long-Term Adaptation Mutation rates influence not just immediate adaptation but long-term evolvability - the capacity to produce adaptive variation..."
"...three ingredients - what we might call the Radiation Triangle: ecological opportunity (empty niches or access to underexploited resources), evolvability (genetic variation and developmental flexibility to generate novel traits), and reproductive isolation (mechanisms that prevent diverging popul..."
"Evolution has selected toxins that target hubs, and organisms protect hubs with redundancy (multiple ATP-generating pathways). 3. Evolvability: Scale-free topology emerges through preferential attachment: new metabolites preferentially connect to existing hubs (new reactions use common..."
"...ferent structures despite starting from genetically identical cells - the Hox genes provide positional identity. The modularity allows extraordinary evolvability. Changes in when or where a Hox gene is expressed - caused by mutations in regulatory sequences - can produce dramatic changes in body morphology wit..."
"...or fail-safe operation; discusses trade-offs between robustness, fragility, performance, and resource demands. Wagner, A. (2005). Robustness and Evolvability in Living Systems. Princeton University Press. - Comprehensive treatment of robustness mechanisms in biological systems, including genetic redundancy..."
Biological Context
Evolvability depends on genetic architecture: how mutations map to phenotypes, modularity that allows change in one trait without disrupting others, and developmental plasticity. Some lineages are more evolvable than others, explaining why certain groups diversify rapidly while others stagnate.
Business Application
Organizational evolvability: the capacity to adapt and change in response to market pressures. Depends on culture, structure, and how tightly coupled systems are. High evolvability enables rapid pivots; low evolvability creates rigidity.