Editing Phenotype (section)

===The extended phenotype===
{{main |The Extended Phenotype}}

[[Richard Dawkins]] described a phenotype that included all effects that a gene has on its surroundings, including other organisms, as an extended phenotype, arguing that "An animal's behavior tends to maximize the survival of the genes 'for' that behavior, whether or not those genes happen to be in the body of the particular animal performing it."<ref name=r1>{{cite journal | vauthors = Dawkins R | title = Replicator selection and the extended phenotype | journal = Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie | volume = 47 | issue = 1 | pages = 61–76 | date = May 1978 | pmid = 696023 | doi = 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1978.tb01823.x | author-link = Richard Dawkins }}</ref> For instance, an organism such as a [[beaver]] modifies its environment by building a [[beaver dam]]; this can be considered an [[Gene expression|expression of its genes]], just as its [[incisor]] teeth are—which it uses to modify its environment. Similarly, when a bird feeds a [[brood parasite]] such as a [[cuckoo]], it is unwittingly extending its phenotype; and when genes in an [[orchid]] affect [[orchid bee]] behavior to increase pollination, or when genes in a [[peacock]] affect the copulatory decisions of peahens, again, the phenotype is being extended. Genes are, in Dawkins's view, selected by their phenotypic effects.<ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Dawkins R |author-link=Richard Dawkins |title=The Extended Phenotype |publisher=Oxford University |year=1982 |page=[https://archive.org/details/extendedphenotyp0000dawk/page/4 4] |isbn=978-0-19-288051-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/extendedphenotyp0000dawk/page/4 }}</ref>

Other biologists broadly agree that the extended phenotype concept is relevant, but consider that its role is largely explanatory, rather than assisting in the design of experimental tests.<ref name="Hunter2009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hunter P | title = Extended phenotype redux. How far can the reach of genes extend in manipulating the environment of an organism? | journal = EMBO Reports | volume = 10 | issue = 3 | pages = 212–215 | date = March 2009 | pmid = 19255576 | pmc = 2658563 | doi = 10.1038/embor.2009.18 }}</ref>