Hi jbozz,
It seems to me that the discussion has somewhat shifted from the original topic of your original post. There are some comments I have with regards to your original post. Not that this is particularly relevant, but do note that I am an ID proponent; however, I have some problems with your arguments (and definitions).
Let me tackle this:
So if all life started as a single bacteria, that bacteria would have to have increased in genetic information as it evolved into different organisms such as a fish or something and then into salamander then lizard or something, all the way up to a human. (I don't know the entire transition)
Mutations would have to occur which code for new enzymes or proteins that perform new, useful and beneficial functions. This would mean that the new mutation would have to insert a huge amount of new base pairs into the genetic code all at once or one base pair at a time over a long time (but those new genes don't get deleted or changed back for some reason).
Macro evolution with mutations that increase new, useful and/or beneficial genetic information that makes the organism more complex have to both be possible, have happened in the past and happen today in order for all life on earth to have evolved from a single micro-organism.
Mutations can occur that modify just one base pair, with the result that a new amino acid sequence is translated. Changing only one amino acid can be beneficial. Step by incremental step a new enzyme might thereby evolve. Furthermore, domain swapping is well-documented in the scientific literature, wherein protein domains are "mixed and matched," producing larger, functional protein sequences.
There is very good molecular evidence that genomic changes can produce functional (useful)
gains in genetic information (the aforementioned domain swapping is a good example of this). Gene duplication can produce a beneficial function with a rise in genomic information. For instance, the
Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome encodes two duplicated proteins (paralogs): SNC1 and SNC2, which function as vesicle proteins. This genome also encodes the membrane docking proteins SSO1 and SSO2, which are also duplicates. Each of these proteins bind to the other (e.g., SNC1 binds to SSO1) to produce a multi-protein complex involved in vesicle trafficking. These duplicated proteins confer redundancy to the system; if one of the proteins is lost through a deletion mutation, the cell can still survive. So we see that an increase in genomic information through gene duplication gives rise to a beneficial function: redundancy. There are other examples that could be cited, but I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Edited by Genomicus, : No reason given.