Thios argument would be more convincing if it were possible to remove all
the "junk DNA" from an existing group of organisms and see how that
group, and a control group with the "junk DNA" present, survived several
generations. The experimenter would not even have to remove "all" the
"junk DNA" -- just a more-or-less significant amount.
Hypothesis: "Junk DNA" is not essential for a certain species.
Experiment: Take an established colony of grunks, where "grunk" is some
species.
Randomly separate the colony into two equal populations. Call them A and
B.
Remove 50% or more of the "junk DNA" from each member of A.
Allow A to survive untouched by B.
Allow B to survive untouched by A.
Repeat for 100 generations.
Compare A to B.
If no perceptible differences, the hypothesis seems to be confirmed.
If there are differences, disconfirmed.
Seems easy enough! But then, I'm not a biologist. How close are we to
being able to do such an experiment?
Burgy