Evolvability

Evolvability (English evolvability ) is a concept in evolutionary biology. He refers to the ability of living organisms to bring about by changing their genes a change in their characteristics.

The term evolvability is used in both a technical as well as in a functional sense. In the technical sense, a biological system evolvability when its properties inherited genetic variation, so that selection can cause a change in these properties. In the functional sense, a biological system is evolvierbar if it can acquire new properties through genetic modification, enabling it potentially to increase its survival and reproductive capacity.

Evolvability is a qualitative system property. Be distinguished from the concept of statistical variability of the genotype and phenotype (e.g., DNA) describes the variance of the probability distribution of a random variable.

The evolvability of a system can be performed regardless of the circumstances or the environment of the system study. This is in contrast to the adaptability and adaptability of a system, which can always be examined only in relation to a recordable changes in environmental condition.