Conflating alleles with genes?
--Guilty as charged?
Well, of course alleles function as genes, but genes do not function as alleles. Try this:
allele : gene :: oak : tree.
Exaptation is probably the only mega-ToE mechanism I could remotely consider (as a podiatrist and programmer).
The real problem with exaptation is that it seems "built in" to be viable:
1) Exaptation within 'extremely primitive' life forms seems statistically impossible (DNA codons, left-handed helixes, etc.)
2) If indeed exaptation has occurred (at all), it would have to take place in *modernish* organisms that have so many bio-systems built-in already.
3) The abused metaphor of a GPS auto-navigation NS-mutating into "driver-intelligence" is too metaphysical and religious for me to accept in my materialistic logic.
(Hopefully, we'll discuss more on this exaptation principle)
Maybe someone put a Mickey my morning coffee, but I can't make any sense of this.
”HM
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