Question #1b30b

All mutations are a mistake in the copying and transfer of DNA. As DNA is an information code DNA must follow the laws of information. These laws indicate that information transfers follow the laws of entropy. That means that there is a loss of useable information, as the amount of disorder increases.

Some mistakes are good. For example look at the horse fossil record. The earlier horses had four and the three toes. The Modern horse has only one toe and runs on the knuckles of the toe. This is good for the horse because on one toe the horse can run much faster. However this a lose of information.

Bacteria gain resistance to antibiotics by losing genetic information. ( pages 260-262 The Beak of the Bird. This is vital to the survival of the bacteria in the environment where there are antibiotics present. This is a good mutation for the bacteria. (not so much for people)

It is easy to see the advantage of losing information in the blind fish of Death Valley. The mutations caused these fish living in total darkness to loss their eye tissues. The tough skin over where the eyes used to be are not injured when the fish run into rocks in the darkness of the underwater lakes and rivers.

Mutations can have definite adaptive advantages. The mutation while a lose of genetic information are sometimes good.