quote:
Originally posted by Peter:
How do we detect mutations and calculate the 'good':'bad'
ratio ?
We don't have to; it's simply inevitable that mutations are predominantly good, rather than bad. For an organism to have a mutation, it must be alive...which means it 'works'. Since mutations are random, and there are vastly more ways of 'breaking' something that works than there are of 'improving' it, there are vastly more bad mutations than there are good. And vastly more that are neither good nor bad. Imagine a complex engine. At random, you weld a piece of metal on to it somewhere. Now you turn on the engine. What are the odds that you 'broke' it, compared to that you 'improved' it?
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