RE: 'Directed' evolution?

Arthur V. Chadwick (chadwicka@swau.edu)
Tue, 22 Sep 1998 14:41:17 -0700

At 12:36 PM 9/22/98 -0600, you wrote:
>That would depend upon what is meant by "added information." Would a
>protein with a new function, a function that never existed before, a
>function that never could have existed before, be an example of "added
>information"? If so, then I can give four examples.

Using Spetners definition (his expertise is in information theory) of what
constitutes new information (and he deals in his book with each of the
cases you suggest), none of these meet the criteria of new information.
Either they exploit information that is already in the genome, but
inactive, or they involve a loss of information that decreases specificity.
You can test your ideas against his very careful explanations, if you wish.

Art
http://biology.swau.edu