I don't remember too much from my college genetics, but I recall that since so much of our DNA isn't actively used it can evolve much further away than would ot

I don't remember too much from my college genetics, but I recall that since so much of our DNA isn't actively used it can evolve much further away than would otherwise be possible if every base pair was actively used. As soon as the proper start and stop codons are mutated back in (I'm simplifying), bam, you have a new active gene which could result in much more drastic change than any single mutation would provide.