12-23-2005, 06:22 PM
So you are just arguing the semations of the word "mutation"?
It sounds like your point has nothing to do with what was studied and is just about the definitions the authors chose. Why bother even mentioning that?
Most scientists I have known use "mutation" to describe any gentic change that isnt engineered(such as gene therapy)
Here are some dictionary definitions.
A- A change of the DNA sequence within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.
B- The process by which such a change occurs in a chromosome, either through an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA coding for a gene or through a change in the physical arrangement of a chromosome.
The use of the word "devolve" in these contexts is misleading. Evolution is change over time - not improvements over time. Selective pressure is is required for what we see as improvements. Over time in a natural setting only the rare helpful changes are selected for, the more common deliterious changes are selected against the the most common neutral changes are selected for or against only to the degree they are "linked" to a helpful or deliterious change.
Anyway your blanket statment that all mutations are bad(in the context of a lab experiment) just shows that you dont understand neither bio-chemical genitics nor population gentics.
It sounds like your point has nothing to do with what was studied and is just about the definitions the authors chose. Why bother even mentioning that?
Most scientists I have known use "mutation" to describe any gentic change that isnt engineered(such as gene therapy)
Here are some dictionary definitions.
A- A change of the DNA sequence within a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type.
B- The process by which such a change occurs in a chromosome, either through an alteration in the nucleotide sequence of the DNA coding for a gene or through a change in the physical arrangement of a chromosome.
The use of the word "devolve" in these contexts is misleading. Evolution is change over time - not improvements over time. Selective pressure is is required for what we see as improvements. Over time in a natural setting only the rare helpful changes are selected for, the more common deliterious changes are selected against the the most common neutral changes are selected for or against only to the degree they are "linked" to a helpful or deliterious change.
Anyway your blanket statment that all mutations are bad(in the context of a lab experiment) just shows that you dont understand neither bio-chemical genitics nor population gentics.