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According to this theory, long, long ago, two very different animals, one destined to be wormy, the other destined to take wing, accidently mated, and somehow t
by charonn0 14y ago
According to this theory, long, long ago, two very different animals, one destined to be wormy, the other destined to take wing, accidently mated, and somehow their genes learned to live side-by-side in their descendants.
This is simply rubbish, and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of genetics.
- Daniel_Newby 14y agoNo, it is entirely possible. Entire chromosomes could modified, as by methylation, and the transcription machinery could switch between the two at the appropriate developmental stage. What it is is (1) extremely unlikely, and (2) easily checked by looking at the DNA sequence of any insect that metamorphoses.
- charonn0 14y agoThe only somewhat similar thing I can think of would be mitochondria, but even mitochondria retain their own unique DNA outside of the nucleus.
- rcthompson 14y agoTrue, mitochondria contain functional DNA, but the majority of mitochondrial genes have migrated to the eukaryotic nucleus. The transcripts are transcribed in the nucleous, translated in the cytosol, and the protein products are translocated into the mitochondria. There's not necessarily anything preventing the remainder of the mitochondrial genome from making the same transition, although perhaps the mitochondrion would still require a "placeholder" chromosome because its cycle of reproduction is tied in with replication of that chromosome as it is in bacteria.