Genome complexity: variation within species (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, December 21, 2016, 20:58 (2676 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Since bacteria started so long ago and faced every possible threat, all their survival mechanisms had to be present from the beginning.

dhw: Agreed. In my hypothesis, the survival mechanism would consist in their “plasticity” and the intelligence to work out how to use it in solving the problems posed by each individual threat. Some succeed and some don’t. Your hypothesis has your God preprogramming the first cells to pass on “all the alternative pathways they need for any crisis from the beginning” (see under “big brain evolution”), which I take to mean every solution to every problem. Not very efficient programming if some succeed and some don’t. Does he also select the successful bacteria, or leave that to chance?

I think all the proper defense mechanisms were onboard from the beginning. Bacteria have adapted to everywhere.