Mathematics of Planet Earth

Models of evolution of biological sequences have gone a long way since Jukes and Cantor. First, it is no longer acceptable to consider that mutations of a given type occur independently and uniformIy across time and space. A large number of factors affect the rate at which mutations occur. Second, selective pressure makes that the probability of fixation of a mutation depends on the fitness of the mutated individual, which sometimes places unexpected constraints on the mutational process and induces strong dependencies between positions along the sequences.