An inventive mechanism: nylon eating bacteria (Evolution)

by David Turell , Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 14:00 (3454 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Spetner's new book describes something I have forgotten. Nylon is new to the world, but there are bacteria that can metabolize nutrients from it after about 20 years from the appearance of nylon. -> dhw: A clear example of an organism altering parts of itself in order to exploit a change in its environment. As you say, the species remains the same - this is a minor adaptation. .... We should therefore accept the possibility that in conditions unknown to us that same mechanism might be capable of more fundamental changes.-I certainly agree that epigenetic changes we know about so far suggest that more fundamental changes are possible through an epigenetic IM. But you have missed one point: the two separate bacterial types invented the same two enzymes! This is evidence of my proposed 'patterns' approach to evolution, supported by Tony. And strongly suggests my thought that the IM (epigenetic) is given guidelines to follow from an earlier time in evolution. Enzymes are big bulky molecules, with thousands of amino acids. If it took only 20 years there has to be guidance, immediate or from past instruction/ information.