> At 06:35 PM 11/11/1999 +0000, Glenn wrote:
>
> >Wow. Thanks for that. My Natures are a bit slow in getting here since I
> >moved to Houston. A polyploid animal would have an increased information
> >content. By the way I have heard that there is some evidence of
> polyploidy
> >in guinea pigs, but I can't find the reference just now.
>
> Hi Glenn:
> Information only increases if there is something different being said.
> That is not established yet in either of the cases you mention.
> A stack of
> newspapers in a newsstand has no more information than any of the
> newspapers in the stack. I know that you know this and am puzzled by your
> seeming delight over this non-event.
> Art
Art,
In an earlier message you wrote:
"From tissue culture of hybrid cells, we know that chromosomes that do not
make a contribution to the host are thrown out (though in human-animal
hybrids it is strange that it is always the human chromosomes that are
excluded). Perhaps over time the chromosomes that, when present in
duplicate were disadvantageous, were eliminated. ***In cases where an extra
copy conferred some advantage, it would be retained.***" (my ***emphasis***)
Your certainty when writing to Glenn seems to contradict what you had said
previously. If there is no increase in information, then how can the
possession of an extra copy also confer some advantage not already possessed
before?
Don Frack