 Specifically, the argument was on the factors influencing and nature of the unit of selection in the genome, with one side positing natural selection, and the other, neutral mutation.Neither of the parties seriously doubted that the theory was both scientific and, according to current scientific knowledge, true.Some participants objected to statements that appeared to present the theory of evolution as an absolute dogma, however, rather than as a hypothesis that so far has performed very well, and both sides quoted Popper in support of their positions.