Lenny, we had this SAME exact conversation a few weeks ago.
You were completely shot down. Was it that traumatic for you? No recollection at all?
Read it again and have it tattooed to your chest this time so you dont forget it again.
The EbgA mutations were both novel AND conferred a major survival advantage. This is ALL evolution claims. Youre completely out of any wiggle room.
The answer was already given to you:
No they did not. The size of the genome was the same before and after the mutations. Further, as I quoted from your study the mutation was helpful only in the particular circumstance the ebg functioned worse in normal situations so as a matter of survivability, it was less prone to survive than before the mutation. This is nothing new. Breeding does the same thing, it makes the genome of the organism less adaptable, less efficient that is why pure-bred animals are less healthy than their wild counterparts.
BTW - this is similar to the case of the nylon bacteria. Nothing new here.