Mutations not random, study suggests

[pood]

Mutations not random, study suggests.

Historically, there have been two basic theories for how evolution happens— random mutation and natural selection, and Lamarckism—the idea that an individual directly senses its environment and somehow changes its genes to fit it. Lamarckism has been unable to explain evolution in general, so biologists have concluded that mutations must be random.

Livnat's new theory moves away from both of these concepts, proposing instead that two inextricable forces underlie evolution. While the well-known external force of natural selection ensures fitness, a previously unrecognized internal force operates inside the organism, putting together genetic information that has accumulated over generations in useful ways.

 

[Tharmas]

Looks interesting. I've just skimmed the article, and I'll wait for wiser heads than mine to check in, but I will say the words "inextricable" and an unnamed "internal force" worry me.

 

[pood]

I can’t tell from this article whether it is being argued that a few/some/many/most/all mutations are nonrandom. I’d be incredulous at all, most, or many. But who knows? Maybe we are on the eve of a paradigm shift.

 

[Spacetime Inhabitant]

I would say that mutations being non-random isn't really a new aspect of biological theory. It depends on what is meant by random.
There are many processes (in fact most things in life) that would be considered partly random, yet can only result in specific outcomes.
Also, couldn't natural selection be considered a result, not a cause? Plus modern evolutionary theory already includes genetics as a factor, so what are they trying to say?

 

[steve_bank]

Random means uncorrelated events, the occurrence of one event does not afefct the next occurrence.

Roll a die and you get a 6. Do a good job of shaking up the die in your hand and roll again. The next number is not affected by the last number. Random uncorrelated events. The probability on any roll is 1/6.

No predictable patterns.

To me a random mutation means a genetic change that is not predicable by a pattern or deterministic set of equations.

A deterministic equation would be distance = velocity * time.

If a mutation is not random than it is at least theoretically predictable, ignoring a supernatural influence.

It all depends on how random is defined.


When I hear hear 'internal forces' I think some kind of Intelligent Design. Articles and papers that have been posted by theists can be god in science clothing.

I don't know enough genetics to elaborate.

 

[steve_bank]

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more frequently where it is needed to prevent disease, fundamentally challenging the notion that evolution is driven by random mutations and tying the results to a new theory that, for the first time, offers a new concept for how mutations arise.

A random mutation is a genetic change whose chance of arising is unrelated to its usefulness. Only once these supposed accidents arise does natural selection vet them, sorting the beneficial from the harmful. For over a century, scientists have believed that a series of such accidents has built up over time, one by one, to create the diversity and splendor of life around us.

It seems to be saying hthere a correlation of mutation rate to a benefit.

If I were doing datat analysis I would do a histogram of the time intervals between occurrence of specific mutation and see what the probability distribution looks like.

It is difficult for me to read papers, but it seems to be saying the need drives the mutation.

This sounds like an active agent.

"At each generation, mutations arise based on the information that has accumulated in the genome up to that time point, and those that survive become a part of that internal information."

Dubious, no authors are cited and can't find the paper. Which academy of sconces? Israel is a religious state.

האקדמיה הלאומית הישראלית למדעים The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities - Home page

,

www.academy.ac.il

There are a lot hits on Israeli platforms.

'Israeli academy of sciences paper mutations non random'

 

[pood]

Here is the paper

 

[pood]

As the article explains, “a random mutation is a genetic change whose chance of arising is unrelated to its usefulness.” Another way of saying it is that the mutation has no correlation to the environment — it will be good, bad, or indifferent depending on what the environment is. The classic example of the nylon-eating bacteria is that a random (uncorrelated to environment) mutation gave bacteria the ability to digest nylon, and by pure happenstance they found themselves in a nylon-rich environment, so the mutation was beneficial. In an environment free of nylon, the mutation might have been neutral or detrimental. Now this paper seems to be challenging this model at least for some mutations.

 

[pood]

Facilitated variation