Developmental and Physiological Aspects of Reaction NormsDrosophila data link genetic variation and phenotypic response to the environment

A fter the Dark Age of Electrophoresis, evolutionary biologists are now experiencing the Renaissance of the Phenotype. During that dark age, researchers observed molecular differences in enzymes often without knowing what the enzyme did in the organism or the effects of the variations detected. In the current renaissance, interest should expand from molecular differences to the expressed traits of organisms, to their physiological effects, and to the organism's resulting environmental fitness.