Chance and Providence

[Mercer (John Mercer)]

@jongarvey

The commonest “maybe” seems to be the idea that point mutations in biology might be the result of quantum effects from radiation, but mutation experiments over 40 years don’t suggest that very much evolution is the result of that kind of mutation. The effect must be completely swamped by macrsopcopic evenrs like copying errors, and the whole of gamut of other genetic mutational paths.

Jon, what you’re missing here is that the most common mutations, transitions, are not really “copying errors,” because the keto-enol transition of the base is driving them and the polymerase is working correctly. So if you’d like, that can be seen as providence more than chance.