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This is where you're mistaken. With computerized DNA sequencing technology, bacteria genomes can be assembled in a matter of weeks and compared with other previously assembled genomes within hours. Bacteria are relatively simple organisms, their DNA has been well-studied and their life cycles are well known. Cultures of bacteria are first sequenced and then exposed to a set of stressful environmental conditions. After the experiments are complete, DNA samples are taken from the surviving bacteria, run through the sequencing machines, and compared with that of their ancestors. From these experiments, the rate of change in bacteria DNA is objectively measured. From these experiments, predictions may be made and conclusions can be reached about if, or how far a certain trait might progress through several generations. The results are predictable and repeatable.

Splendid! Thanks for dishing up the first straight answer I've gotten all day. Can you tell me where or how I can gain access to some data on this? I'd like to check into this further.

Please understand that I am not a biologist, but a computer technologist. That having been said, the fields in question are called bioinformatics and comparitive genomics. They are relatively new fields of study, only recently made possible from advances in computerization.

Good websites to start reading about bioinformatics are the Washington University (St Louis Missouri) School of Medicine Genome Sequencing Center and Baylor College of Medicine (Houston Texas) Human Genome Sequencing Center. Both sites have pages documenting research projects on microbial genomes, as well as those of macroscopic creatures ranging from the humble fruit fly to the well known Human Genome Project. I honestly admit much of what is written on these pages is largely beyond my level of biological understanding. However, it is my understanding that microbial genomes, as some of the smallest and easiest to work with, have been studied the longest. For comparison, to fully sequence a mammalian genome still takes several years and is a complex undertaking, whereas viral genomes can be sequenced in a day. These websites deal mostly with getting the DNA sequences into computer readable formats, but from these pages are links to other research projects and educational institutions doing this type of research. For general reading just type "bacterial genome" or "comparitive genomics" or "bioinformatics" or "molecular genetics" into a search engine and start clicking.

Splendid! Thanks for dishing up the first straight answer I've gotten all day. Can you tell me where or how I can gain access to some data on this? I'd like to check into this further.

It's hard to take someone seriously when their first post on the thread is:

I bet the first whale that jumped on the beach and suddenly started breathing air only did so to get away from all of his pals and their cruel jokes about his freakish half hippo appearance.