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One of the cornerstones of the intelligent design argument is that natural processes are incapable of creating the necessary genetic information to enable the various functions required for biological organisms.
Stephen Meyer (currently the most prolific ID proponent) in particular makes this a crux of his core argument for ID. He uses it in particular in the context of the Cambrian explosion, claiming that evolution cannot explain the origin of all the required genetic information for Cambrian fauna.
Lately I've been reading up on the concept of de novo gene evolution. Traditional thinking of the evolution of genes revolves largely around gene duplications and subsequent evolutionary modification. IOW, new genes evolving from pre-existing genes.
With de novo gene evolution, you have the evolution of new genes from non-genic DNA. In this manner, novel genes can evolve without ancestral genes preceding them.
This paper in particular describes various proposed mechanisms for de novo gene evolution: De novo gene birth
This area of gene evolution appears less understood, but as more is learned about how de novo genes evolve, that can further answer the question of where all that wonderful genetic information came from.
Stephen Meyer (currently the most prolific ID proponent) in particular makes this a crux of his core argument for ID. He uses it in particular in the context of the Cambrian explosion, claiming that evolution cannot explain the origin of all the required genetic information for Cambrian fauna.
Lately I've been reading up on the concept of de novo gene evolution. Traditional thinking of the evolution of genes revolves largely around gene duplications and subsequent evolutionary modification. IOW, new genes evolving from pre-existing genes.
With de novo gene evolution, you have the evolution of new genes from non-genic DNA. In this manner, novel genes can evolve without ancestral genes preceding them.
This paper in particular describes various proposed mechanisms for de novo gene evolution: De novo gene birth
This area of gene evolution appears less understood, but as more is learned about how de novo genes evolve, that can further answer the question of where all that wonderful genetic information came from.
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