Mutations and New information

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… but that thread may be too technical, and it picks up from a different discussion.

The short version:

  1. Information describes the variability found in the population genome. It’s a property of the population, not of individuals.
  2. New mutations add variability (Information) to the genome.
  3. Sexual mixing spreads that information through the genome, unless/until …
  4. Selection removes information from the genome, with a heavy bias toward keeping information that promotes fitness of the population.

It might be better to say that species evolve as Information changes in the genome. Some of the variation will be new, some of the old variation will get selected out.

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