quote:
"it is the specific arrangement of letters (or bases) in the DNA code that makes the code meaningful to the body, which understands the DNA (genetic) language. This meaningful arrangement of letters in the DNA code is what makes up the information that tells the body how to produce a particular physical feature or characteristic, such as an eyeball or hair color."
There are many examples of gain of genetic information, lpetrich has already mentioned the nylon digesting bacteria, another nice example is the evolution of the antifreeze gene in antarctic fish. The process that gave rise to the new genetic information was as follows:
Duplication of the trypsinogen gene
deletion of a large part of the gene givivng rise by chance to an amino acid sequence that binds to ice.
the ice binding sequence was then duplicated increasing the ice binding properties.
In the end we are left with a new gene that is:
understandable by the cell's transcription system ("meaningful arrangement of letters in the DNA code").
The gene which was originally duplicated still exists so there is no loss of information.
The new gene gives a new useful function to the organism ("tells the body how to produce a particular physical feature").
L. Chen, A. L. DeVries, and C. H. Cheng. Evolution of antifreeze glycoprotein gene from a trypsinogen gene in Antarctic notothenioid fish. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.U.S.A 94 (8):3811-3816, 1997.
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