> To: nobody at net.bio.net> Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 16:30:21 +0100
> From: "SH at OLIN_" <W.J.Koning at chem.uu.nl>
> Subject: basic question
> For the process of evolution DNA must become more complicated.
This is neither true nor necessary: one need only look to the
Eubacteria, which have been around as long as we have (phyletically
speaking), and compare genome complexities, to see that it isn't
true. Eubacteria are an exemplification of a principle a friend of
mine is fond of quoting: "Things evolve from the primitive, through
the complicated, to the simple". (Thanks, Doug Rawlings). That is,
they have stripped their genomes down, got rid of all or most introns
and duplications, minimised "junk" DNA - and are as sophisticated as
we are in terms of single-cell control of internal processes.
Ed Rybicki, PhD
Dept Microbiology | ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za
University of Cape Town | rybicki at uctvms.uct.ac.za
Private Bag, Rondebosch | phone: x27-21-650-3265
7700, South Africa | fax: x27-21-689 7573
WWW URL: http://www.uct.ac.za/microbiology/ed.html
"Organised people just have limited horizons"
