Tom Getty and 136 colleagues have published a Brief Communication Arising in the journal Nature that clarifies the role of genetics in the evolution of social behavior (Abbot, P. et al. 2011. Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality. Nature 471, E1–E4).

The root of the problem they address is that there are different ways to conceptualize and model the evolution of social interactions and many of us do not fully understand and appreciate the alternatives to our favorite approach.

Getty and colleagues clarify the conceptual issues and use examples to illustrate how the inclusive fitness approach has helped to predict and explain otherwise baffling phenomena, including the evolution of extremely altruistic behavior.