Thinking more: the tricky property is not only that synonyms are one mutation away, but that functionally very different meanings are one mutation away - enough

Thinking more: the tricky property is not only that synonyms are one mutation away, but that functionally very different meanings are one mutation away - enough to make a difference. For example, in C programs, it's easy to get one mutation synonyms: just mess with whitespace. But difficult to get very different synonyms, which then with one further mutation suddenly gives very different results (I think?). The synonyms don't get you much. My understanding of the function of DNA coded proteins is pretty much their folding shape (which in turn determines what reactions they "enzymize"). We could say that the mapping between sequence and folding is the mapping from word to meaning. I'm guessing, but it seems to me that a protein could vary much in some areas, without affecting folding much (like whitespace?), some areas would predispose some folds, and others would be critical. It also may be affected by the general environment, and presence of specific other proteins, that might encourage one out of few potential folds. It maybe that it's also somewhat probabilistic, that proteins are not deterministically folded in one particular way, but produce a distribution of folds. And that as a synonyms may shift the distribution, e.g. more of one base-pair at a certain part may gradually shift the proportions, Provided none of the possibilities are pathological, this seems a way to gradually shift towards alternatives. The key thing is that when shifted far enough, at a few different folding points, it may suddenly start producing a novel folding. If it happens to be useful, selection would quickly favour stablizing this particular folding (and it's probably possible to move towards a sequence that almost guarantees this fold). So in some ways it's more an analog system than digital. I find it difficult to think of an actual design with this property.