(October 27, 2016 at 12:53 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote:Soldat Du Christ Wrote:You guys are just tooting your own horn. Gene duplication isn't new information being added, it's duplication.
Chimp has addressed this, but I feel you may benefit from having it spelled out.
1. A gene duplicates
2. The duplicated gene undergoes mutations
3. The mutations are selected for or against (or are neutral and not selected either way) by the organism's environment.
Add 1, 2, and 3 together and you have new genetic information. It's on a gene that wasn't present before, so it's not just a modification of an existing gene.
You can make a case that the gene had more information before it was altered by mutation and selection; but it's similar to arguing that the Pieta had more information when it was a cube of marble. Yes, it would take more code to describe the location of every molecule of the slab the Pieta was carved from; but it was by carving away useless or insignificant 'code' that the masterpiece was achieved. In gene duplication, all the information is redundant, you could get rid of 90% of it and if what was left was functional, no reasonable person would consider that a loss of information.
We don't even need mutation to add genetic information to an organism. Most species do it through recombination, which happens by a process known as
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1rscPaS7TQ
Urbs Antiqua Fuit Studiisque Asperrima Belli
Home
Home