Back to David's theory of evolution: God's error corrections (Evolution)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 15:19 (1552 days ago) @ dhw

An example of copy editing problems during life in mitochondria. A mouse study:

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6506/931.2?utm_campaign=ec_sci_2020-08-20

"Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a separate genome found in eukaryotic cells that is maternally inherited. Mutations in mtDNA underlie several human diseases, and the accumulation of these mutations has been associated with aging. Arbeithuber et al. used duplex sequencing to trace accumulation of spontaneous mtDNA mutations in oocytes, brain, and muscle cells of mice. Ten-month-old mothers showed a two- to threefold increased rate of mtDNA mutation compared with their 1-month-old pups. The authors found that the D-loop, a stretch of triple-stranded highly variable DNA in the noncoding region of the circular mtDNA where replication initiates, accumulated the most mutations. These mtDNA mutations occurred in patterns, indicating that they were caused by replication errors. It is possible that inheritance of aged mtDNA from older mothers may have health consequences for their offspring." (my bold)

Comment: Most genome mutations are copy errors. The actual rate is much higher than the final product, since an enormous number behind the scenes are corrected before final appearance in completed form.