The Unselfish Gene of the novel is a nod to Richard Dawkins' 1976 book, "The Selfish Gene". Among the concepts developed in Dawkins' book is a theory of how natural selection may favor self-sacrifice and other forms of altruism. The themes of altruism and small gene sets play an important role in plot and character development in The Unselfish Gene. The Unselfish Gene is what might be termed "semi-hard" science fiction. The technology described in the book is well within the limits of early 21st century technology. Some of it, such as "The Anita", an atomic-bomb powered heavy lifter space ship, was actually
The Selfish Gene a work of exposition." According to comparative psychologist Nicky Hayes, "Dawkins presented a version of sociobiology that rested heavily on metaphors drawn from animal behavior, and extrapolated these...One of the weaknesses of the sociological approach is that it tends only to seek confirmatory examples from among the huge diversity of animal behavior. Dawkins did not deviate from this tradition." More generally, critics argue that "The Selfish Gene" oversimplifies the relationship between genes and the organism. (As an example, see Thompson.) "The Selfish Gene" further popularised sociobiology in Japan after its translation in 1980. With the addition of Dawkins's book to