Horizontal gene transfer and the earliest stages of the evolution of life.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been suggested to be the dominant hereditary process at the earliest stages of evolution. I examine this suggestion within the context of the problem of genetic parasites and suggest that extreme rates of transfer may in fact negatively impact evolutionary transitions. In regard to the proposal that HGT is Lamarckian, the apparent conflict between HGT and Darwinian evolution is easily avoided by considering HGT at the appropriate level of selection.