9 Jun
2016
9 Jun
'16
8:54 a.m.
At the risk of this DNA sidebar hijacking the fascinating diamond thread:
="Keith F. Lynch" <kfl@KeithLynch.net> DNA was naturally selected to be capable of mutation
Yes, but DNA hacks its own mutability (talk about self-modifying code!) and regions mutate unevenly. New flu vaccines are required annually because it fluidly shuffles its antigenic sites. In contrast, some regions are so highly conserved across all Earth life that they have been proposed to test if we've infected Mars: http://arep.med.harvard.edu/pdf/Isenbarger08.pdf Richard Greenblatt's even argued ribosomal conservation supports panspermia.