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To: js1138
We need only note that the article Southack has cited considers the resistance allele to be "mutant." (That is, the product of a mutation to some original genome. One of the linked artcles which cite that article is an exhaustive reference work on the E. coli genome. Search THAT thing for occurences of "mutation" or "mutant" and you will probably quit before you're far down the page.

But what does Southack cite this literature to prove? That there in fact are no mutations. All alleles are "original."

720 posted on 01/24/2005 9:26:53 AM PST by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro; Southack

SH gets a tenth of a point for finding a reference to the word "recessive" in a bacteria gene. He loses the match because the article he quotes specifically cites a mutation as necessary for the antibiotic resistance to become effective.

First of all, the study cited demonstrates only one instance of mutation conferring. South implies that this is always the way it works. There are, in fact, many known routes to antibiotic resistence, including single gene mutation, bacterial congegation and viral insertion.

Actually, Southack's argument works in favor of common descent, because genome length is not particularly correlated to the apparent complexity of organisms, and tiny mutations can enable huge differences is body plan, such as altering the number of legs.


728 posted on 01/24/2005 10:02:27 AM PST by js1138
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To: VadeRetro
I stopped counting when I had reached 60 occurrences of the string "muta" in 256 of 4971 numbered citations. That would extrapolate to over 1100 overall on that one web page if one may infer inductively from a mere sample without offending a creationist.
732 posted on 01/24/2005 10:13:13 AM PST by VadeRetro
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