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Abstract
The nature and cost of single genes of major effect is one of the longest running
controversies in biology. Resistance, whether to xenobiotics or to parasites, is often
paraded as an obvious example of a single gene effect that must carry an associated
fitness 'cost'. However, a review of the xenobiotic resistance literature shows that
empirical evidence for this hypothesis is, in fact, scarce. We postulate that such
fitness costs can only be fully interpreted in the light of the molecular mutations
that might underlie them. We also derive a theoretical framework both to encompass
our current understanding of xenobiotic resistance and to begin to dissect the probable
cost of parasite resistance.