Darwin Day 2015 Questions: #3 What if DNA was infallible?
Richard Dawkins answers your questions about evolution in honor of Darwin Day 2015. "If dna was infallible, there'd be no diversity. Would it go extinct all together? Thank you" Edited by...
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(Music playing) Richard Dawkins: "If DNA was infallible, there'd be no diversity. Would it go extinct all together? Thank you." Yes, I mean, as you know, DNA has to mutate, otherwise evolution can't happen. Mutation is the random mistakes, which happen in genetic transmission, which provide the variation on which natural selection works. So it's actually true that if DNA was literally infallible, and it's in fact very very good, it's very nearly infallible, if it were totally infallible then evolution would indeed grind to a halt, because there would be no variation. Mutation happens because DNA is not perfect, because of the laws of physics. It's not possible to make an absolutely perfect copying system in DNA. Then...
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(Music playing) Richard Dawkins: "If DNA was infallible, there'd be no diversity. Would it go extinct all together? Thank you." Yes, I mean, as you know, DNA has to mutate, otherwise evolution can't happen. Mutation is the random mistakes, which happen in genetic transmission, which provide the variation on which natural selection works. So it's actually true that if DNA was literally infallible, and it's in fact very very good, it's very nearly infallible, if it were totally infallible then evolution would indeed grind to a halt, because there would be no variation. Mutation happens because DNA is not perfect, because of the laws of physics. It's not possible to make an absolutely perfect copying system in DNA. Then...
