Mutations

You Will Discover In the Unit On Evolution That Textbooks Define “Biological Evolution” as CHANGE.

A Change In What? The Change Must Be In the DNA Since The DNA Contains the Complete Instructions On How To Make A Duplicate Organism.

If the DNA Contains Instructions Then It Must Contain Information. If You Are To Understand Mutations and Evolution Then It Is Essential That You Understand the Concept And Importance Of DNA Information Content.

Think Critically Consider These Letter Groups : Which Has the Least Information? 1. The Sky Is Blue. 2. The Sky Is Deep Blue. 3. The Sky Is Blue vxktqybm. 4. The Sky Is pndwrzeq. 5. The Sky Is Blue. The Sky Is Blue.

If You Picked Number 4 “The Sky is pndwrzeq?” WhyDid You Select It Over Number 2? They Both Have The Same Number Of Letters? Did You Pick Number 1 “The Sky Is Blue?” If so, why not? It Has the Least Number Of Letters.

Think Critically Which Letter Grouping has the MOST Information? 1. The Sky Is Blue. 2. The Sky Is Deep Blue. 3. The Sky Is Blue vxktqybm. 4. The Sky Is pndwrzeq. 5. The Sky Is Blue. The Sky Is Blue.

Which Letter Grouping Has the MOST Information In It? What Is the Correct Answer? Do Numbers 1, 3 and 5 All Have the Same Information? Number 5 Has the Most Letters. Did You Pick It? Why Not?

Conclusion Adding or Transposing Letters And/or Words Does Not Increase Information Content Unless It Is Meaningful.

In Dealing With DNA You Learned That Three Base Pairs Coded For An Amino Acid and That There are 20 Biological Amino Acids In Living Organisms. These 20 Amino Acids May Be Considered As Letters Similar To Those In Our Alphabet Since They Spell Out the Precise Structure Of Proteins, Genes and Other Functions.

The DNA Uses 4 Letters (Chemical Compounds A, C, G, T) To Encode Its Information. This Should Not Bother Us Because Computers Use Only 2 letters. On This Basis, Information Content Problems Are the Same In All Languages.

A Mutation Is Any Change In the DNA Sequence. It Is Generally Agreed That Mutations Must Be The Source Of Genetic Information And That Mutations Are Random Chance Occurrences.

“The process of mutations is the only known source of the raw materials of genetic variability, and hence of evolution... “ Theodosius Dobzhansky, On Methods of Evolutionary Biology and Anthropology. American Scientist, December 1957, p Evolutionist Theodosius Dobzhansky said,

Evolutionist Ernst Mayer said, “Ultimately, all variation is, of course, due to mutation.” Ernst Mayer, Evolutionary Challenges to the Mathematical Interpretation of Evolution. Proceedings of a Symposium on “Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation of Evolution,” Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, April, 1966, p. 50.

If a Mutation Is To Cause Macro- Evolution What Characteristic Must It Have?

New Meaningful Information Must Be Added To the Existing DNA. The Question is, “Can Meaningful Information Come About By Purely Random Chance Happenings?”

Answer the Following Question: Did the change from the First Chapter of your textbook to an encyclopedia require additional coherent information or is the encyclopedia simply a random chance rearrangement of the information required to make the first chapter of your textbook?

Doesn’t Macro-Evolution DEMAND That a Mutation INCREASE the MEANINGFUL INFORMATION contained in the DNA? A Decrease May Cause Micro-Evolution.

Think Critically: It has been discovered that the LARGEST BACTERIA Epulopiscium fishelsoni has 85,000 copies of one of its genes and contains approximately 25 times as much DNA as a human cell. Does this confirm the need for added DNA to be meaningful? Randerson, J., Record Breaker. New Scientist, Vol. 174, 8 June 2002, p. 14

The Information Content Of The DNA Of The Mollicute or H-39 Mycoplasma (One Of the Smallest Bacteria) Is Contained in 768,000 base pairs. This Equals the Number of Letters On Approximately 200 Pages of Your Textbook if There Are No Pictures Smith, Cell Biology,. Academic Press (1971), p. 86.

Man’s DNA Contains 3.2 billion base pairs This Equals the Number of Letters in Approximately 585 Textbooks Like Yours. This is more than 4100 times greater than that of the mollicute. Starr and Taggart, Biology, The Unity and Diversity of Life. Wadsworth Group, 2004, p. 254.

Question: Where did the additional information come from by random chance happenings to fill more than 584 additional books?

Think Critically: Which of the following types of mutations add meaningful information to the DNA? Remember that mutations happen only in a completely random manner. Point and Frameshift Mutations Transposons Duplication Errors Jumping Genes Chromosomal Mutations Extra Chromosomes Viral and Bacterial Invasion

Conclusion Mutations Do Not Add Meaningful Information To The DNA. Mutations Therefore CANNOT Be A Factor in Macro-Evolution But Can Possibly Cause Micro- Evolution

If Mutations CANNOT Cause Macro-Evolution Then What Does? Examine the Rest of the Arguments Presented By the Textbook For the Answer.

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