 This theory of adaptive mutation was first brought to academic attention in the 1980s by John Cairns.Adaptive mutation is a very controversial topic so there have been many experiments to prove or discredit the theory.Three major experiments are the SOS response and responses to starvation in "Escherichia coli", and testing for revertants of a tryptophan auxotroph of "Saccharomyces cerevisiae", or yeast.