I've noted before how stupid creationists are when they burble things like 'mutation is bad.' Well, a brief story in Nature once again shows just how stupid that whole idea is:
Publishing in Chemistry & Biology Truman et al. have identified a single amino acid substitution in the active site of the protein Cep15, which is part of the glycopeptide antibiotic chloroeremomycin biosynthetic machinery in Amycolatopsis orientalis, that abolishes its catalytic activity. Reversing a point mutation in the cep15 gene produced a functional enzyme. This finding represents the first time that the function of a bacterial pseudogene has been restored by a point mutation.
But TEH MUTATION IZ EVUL!
Actually, I wonder if this mutation that deactivated the enzyme is adaptive in a different context, or if it arose via drift. Now, that's something interesting to ponder.
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for those of us who speak english, can you translate that? i'm just curious what the mutation actually does.
yeah, but it's STILL just a glycopeptide antibiotic chloroeremomycin biosynthetic machine in Amycolatopsis orientalis, right?
You may also have seen the paper (in PNAS) from Lenski's lab, where one of his evolving lines of E. coli evolved the ability to utilize citrate, which is a rather rare thing in E. coli. Again, mutation is not bad...!
OK...mutation is only teh evul in hoomanz. 'cos e-coli is evul and satanic so mutations are good for it.
Martin
OK...mutation is only teh evul in hoomanz. 'cos e-coli is evul and satanic so mutations are good for it.
Martin