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Functional Indivisibility

The quality of a component of a structure such that there is at least one alteration to it which would render the whole structure absolutely non-functional. Coined by Thornhill and Ussery (2000). They conclude that although structures that are both irreducibly complex and functionally indivisible cannot be produced through direct Darwinian evolution, there is nothing that prevents such structures from being produced through reduction or cooption (though see Gene 2002 for a critical notice).

Web Resources On Functional Indivisibility

Irreducible Complexity Revisited (M. Gene 2002)
A classification of possible routes of Darwinian evolution (Thornhill & Ussery 2000)

Editor(s): Krauze

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