Abstract

There is increasing evidence for the wide‐spread existence of functionally redundant genetic pathways in developmental processes. However, both their significance and manner of evolution are still matters of debate. I will argue here that redundancy of gene actions may, in fact, be a necessary requirement for the development and evolution of complex life forms. One can view development as a process that transmits information from the egg to the adult organism. Transmission of information is, however, always an error‐prone process, which can only be safeguarded by including redundancies in the message. Molecular examples for well analysed redundant processes indicate that redundancies may best be understood within a conceptual framework of overlaps between different gene functions.