How the Central Dogma and the Theory of Selfish Genes Misled Evolutionary and Medical Sciences in Understanding Multi-factorial Diseases

Abstract

This synthesis article deconstructs the incorrect interpretations of the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology in popular accounts of Selfish Gene Theory in evolutionary biology and in genomics. “Selfish” in the theory is invalid whether interpreted literally or metaphorically. This deep misinterpretation of twentieth century biology, emphasising the primacy of genes in functionality, has encouraged the search for the genetic origins of major multi-factorial diseases, even in the face of continuing failure of genomics to provide the route to prediction or cures for those common fatal diseases. Reliance on The Human Genome Project for such cures has led medical science into an expensive impasse. It is time to bury the scientific dogmas of the twentieth century. There is no place in science for dogmas of any kind. What we need are functional therapies through understanding the functional networks that control genes and their evolution. We present a new diagrammatic way of representing the causal interactions between functional physiological networks and the chemical processes represented by the Central Dogma. It then becomes evident that there are many ways in which the activity and nucleotide composition of DNA can be varied. © The Author(s) 2025.