Mutation theory of Hugo de Vries
Theories of evolution · Biology
Study notes
De Vries's evening primroses threw giant and dwarf mutants in single generations — 'sports' that bred true, unlike Darwin's gradual variation. Modern cancer is mutation theory in the body: one cell's mutations accumulate until it grows uncontrollably. But most evolution isn't de Vries-style jumps — it's selection sifting small variations, as the Modern Synthesis showed.