Looking for sources on the information argument

[Michael_Okoko]

@Giltil

And of course, many particular solutions (let’s say a set of particular solutions) often exist within the space of a global or overall solution. The QC résistance in malaria is a case in point.

Thanks for admitting functional gradients exist. Their existence would allow natural or artificial selection to produce exquisitely optimized systems. You are catching up.

@Giltil

The QC résistance in malaria is a case in point. Indeed, as you’ve noted, many particular solutions exist to confer QC resistance. But they all belong to the same set of solutions, to the same global or overall solution consisting at modifying the activity of the PfCRT receptor.

Its CQ, not QC. QC stands for quinacrine, another antimalarial agent.

Whether there exists one or more global strategies to dealing with CQ is irrelevant. What matters is the presence of functional gradients for any given solution. Mutations are the primary innovators, while natural selection optimizes whatever solutions are created by mutations as long as they increase fitness.

@Giltil

IOW, during all the history of the fight between QC and Plasmodium falciparum , the bug has been able to find only one strategy or overall solution to resist chloroquine, a strategy moreover that does not involve the development of a new function but the modification of an existing one .

Incorrect. The ability of pfcrt to facilitate the efflux of CQ is a new function because wild-type pfcrt has no CQ-transport activity. Did you even read Summers et al.?

The natural substrates for pfcrt are peptides derived from hemoglobin degradation in parasitic food vacuoles. Pfcrt variants that acquire CQ-efflux activity tend to experience diminished affinity for their natural peptide substrates. In general, the more optimized a pfcrt variant is for CQ efflux, the more suboptimized it is for peptide export to the the parasites cytoplasm.

@Giltil

Not very impressive I should say!

Its pretty obvious this is untrue. Point amino acid substitutions generating new phenotypes is super impressive and interesting.

@colewd

@stlyankeefan

But ID’ers pick up on the phrase “molecular machinery” and say “machines need a designer.” I am interested in your thoughts on this idea.

I think part of the argument that many of the ID guys make is the information required to build these machines needs a designer.

Not when the hallmarks of molecular evolution are there.

@colewd

If we have a flagellum with 40 proteins which require 100k nucleotides that’s 4^100 power possible arrangements. How many arrangements can build a flagellum which provides a bacteria with mobility?

I am sorry Bill but the components of the flagella didn’t just pop into existence following a blind search in a sequence space. This is one big misconception you ID proponents can never seem to do away with.