Rosemary J. Redfield is at the Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4. redfield@interchange.ubc.ca
Do bacteria have genes for genetic exchange? The idea that the bacterial processes that cause genetic exchange exist because of natural selection for this process is shared by almost all microbiologists and population geneticists. However, this assumption has been perpetuated by generations of biology, microbiology and genetics textbooks without ever being critically examined.