3 ms·
Not even sure that the number of ways that a genome can be mutated is even finite. Genomes can be mutated not just by the substitution of single base pairs, bu
by siganakis 13y ago
Not even sure that the number of ways that a genome can be mutated is even finite. Genomes can be mutated not just by the substitution of single base pairs, but also by introducing copies, through deletions, translocations and insertions.
There is even the phenomenon known as Chromothripsis [1], which has the entire genome smashed into thousands or millions of pieces and then randomly put back together.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromothripsis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromothripsis
- bjterry 13y agoPedantically, it would have to be finite, because there is a size limit. Cancer couldn't transform your genome into a piece of DNA the size of the sun.
- cam_l 13y agoJust to out-pedant you, the size of the sun is still quite finite, most (all?) things are. Perhaps colloquially, finite here is (not un-like literally) a metaphor, in this case for not-unfathomably-large, or more precisely, measurable.
- ekianjo 13y agoIt's not because it's finite that the number of combinations possible is limited. Just like for passwords, the more bits involved, the more possibilities you get, and a DNA or RNA is a molecular version of a very, very long password. So "finite" is a very poor way to describe the complexity.