Mutations

You Will Discover In the Unit On Evolution That

Textbooks Define “Biological Evolution”

asCHANGE.

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 CriticallyConsider 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?” Why Did 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 CriticallyWhich 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 AllHave the Same Information?

Number 5 Has the Most Letters. Did You Pick It? Why Not?

ConclusionAdding 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. 385.

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, 25-26

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 PicturesSmith, Cell Biology,. Academic Press (1971), p. 86.

Man’s DNA Contains3.2 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 MutationsTransposons

Duplication ErrorsJumping Genes

Chromosomal MutationsExtra Chromosomes

Viral and Bacterial Invasion

ConclusionMutations 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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