in the gene pool are rivals for their slot on the chromosomes of future generations. Any gene that behaves in such a way as to increase its own survival chances in the gene pool at the expense of its alleles will, by definition, tautologously, tend to survive. Thus the gene, according to Dawkins, is the basic unit of selfishness.
Dawkins believes that survival machines began as passive receptacles for genes, providing little more than walls to protect them, and as the organic molecules they fed on became depleted in the primordial soup, plants emerged and began using sunlight to build up complex molecules. Animals discovered how to exploit the chemical labors of plants, either by eating them or eating other animals. Both animals and plants evolved into many-celled bodies, complete copies of all the genes being distributed in every cell (1:46).
Dawkins then proposes the idea that animal behavior, altruistic or selfish, is under the control of genes in only an indirect, but still very powerful sense. By dictating the way survival machines and the
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