The role of domain shuffling in the evolution of signaling networks.

In a seminal paper entitled "Evolution and Tinkering," François Jacob affirmed that: "Novelties come from previously unseen association of old material. To create is to recombine" [Jacob F. (1977) Science 196:1161-1166]. In the 35 years that have passed since Jacob's insight, we have amassed enough data to actually shed light on many of the molecular mechanisms that enable evolution to create novelty by simply recombining what existed already. In this review, we will succinctly discuss the role that the recombination of protein domains has in the evolution of signaling networks, drawing from examples provided by diverse disciplines, including bioinformatics, systems and synthetic biology, and laboratory evolution.