Orphan genes spawn from junk DNA

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Credit: Flickr/kyz

The following is an excerpt.

Orphan genes are genes found in just one species (or a group of closely related species) and nowhere else – the jellyfish gene that guides the formation of stinging cells, the polar cod gene that prevents the fish from freezing, and the fruit fly gene that helps it to fly. But because they have no obvious relatives, they struggle to fit into evolutionary theory. Creationists have cited the apparent incompatibility between orphan genes and evolutionary theory as evidence of intelligent design. It’s not. They’re actually an example of natural selection at its finest.

Read the full blog post here: A happy ending for orphan genes

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