This seems like a gross misunderstanding of Richard Dawkins's argument. The neo-darminist claim is that all genes are inherently selfish. In order for a gene to

This seems like a gross misunderstanding of Richard Dawkins's argument. The neo-darminist claim is that all genes are inherently selfish. In order for a gene to survive, that gene must have a phenotypic effect that maximizes the survival of the gene. Because natural selection occurs at the level of the gene, altruistic genes disappear from the gene pool. So I don't know what the scientist quoted in the article could possibly mean when he says he has discovered the selfish gene. (I hope it is not necessary to point out on this forum that selfish genes have nothing to do with the selfishness or altruism of an individual organism. Selfish genes can produce altruistic people if that's the phenotypic effect that helps them survive.)