Does DNA has any intelligence or it only evolves thru mutaions?

Question

I am perplexed with complexity in design of so many living beings. My question is does the DNA of any animal/living being has intelligence or logic that senses the changes in surrounding and decides it need to change itself to survive?. Or its only thru random mutations in DNA that happen with time, some mutations luckily help the living being survive the changes and then this new modified DNA goes to next generation. So in this away only mutations in DNA that make it robust are carried to next generations. So please clarify how evolution happens using whether the first scenario(DNA has intelligence) or the second scenario(random mutations).

Answer 1

DNA is a way of storing information. But that is far from intelligence. Nothing senses changes in the environment and *decides* that it needs to change the organism to survive.

You are on the right track that there is an *element* of "luck" involved. Randomness creates *variation*. But there are two corrections you should know: (1) Mutation is not the only source of randomness; and (2) Randomness is not the only thing driving evolution ... i.e. EVOLUTION IS NOT BLIND LUCK.

1. Random mutations are improbable, but given huge numbers of replications, and huge amounts of time, there are *many* chances for mutations to occur, and those that produce some slight advantage tend to get propagated slightly better into future generations.

But the invention of sexual reproduction took that randomness to a whole new level. DNA from two different individuals could produce *huge* numbers of different combinations. This allows improvements to propagate much faster into future generations, and allowed much faster adaptations to a changing environment.

2. It's really important to know that EVOLUTION IS NOT JUST RANDOMNESS (BLIND LUCK). Evolution is driven by 3 ingredients: variation + selection + time. Randomness produces the *variation* ... but the selective pressures are NOT random.

For example, a mammal may have several litters of offspring, say 20 in total. Randomness produces the *variation* that some of these will be more hairy than their siblings. But there is *nothing* random about the fact that those offspring with more hair may survive better in a colder environments and therefore produce more babies. (E.g. if the environment is getting colder, or if some members want to, say, push a little further north.) Add the ingredient of *time* and a much hairier subspecies can arise and get separated from the parent species ... and even more *time* and the subspecies can completely lose the ability to mate with the parent species, and you have two different species.

Summary: randomness supplies the sparks of evolution, but selective pressures in the environment + time, provide the fuel.

Answer 2

neither. no inteligence, no mechanism of this has been described seriously. it has only been speculated BEFORE the watsons and cricks discovery of how the dna could carriy the genetic information and anybody´s guess was good.

but also not ONLY mutations. no way. firstly mutations are not TOTALY random, for instance, mutations occur more probably in so called hot spots and also transcriprionally more active regions - that is at places where it minds more. logically - the DNA of unactive regions is so tightly packed together that mutations are unlikely, while active regions are more loosely packed. but thre is no inteligence in it - it is just the way it is, just dont say mutations are totally random. but, as u are suggesting, mutations happen preferentially in places where it could be more important, not purposely, inteligently, by sensing it directly, but by this way. this phenomenon is not much important anyway, as far as i know

secondly the output of mutations are mutated progeny only. then other factors must come to get some evolution, to get somewhere. that is you have one million or ten million specimens of a single species. they are not all EXACTLY the same and although they may survive or die at random, in the bulk numbers some have more chance than others (like prone to diseases versus those with well-tuned immune system). so among their children you will observe a shift somewhere - just like u say. But just mutations will be not enough, u need the selection pressure, and that is anything but blind (whether it is natural selection, sexual selection or artificial selection)

sexuality was a great change too, because while the output of a mutation is most often either worse than it was before, or no change at all, sexuality enables to mix freely what u already have and get new combinations (from which the selection pressure can choose) without any mutations involved at all. so sexuality alone is a definite answer why the "random mutations only " concept is not true

btw i suggest u study something about sexualty in bacteria - firstly u get a picture how the evolution of sexuality itself went on and u learn that in bateria there is no boundary between infection and sexuality (the sexuality bacteria have, the rudimentary sexuality beforre chromosomes appeared in the world), thirdly u get the idea how the chromosomes appeared

Answer 3

DNA definitely has no intelligence. It is just a code of four letter (actually elements) that code for proteins that make your whole body work.
The only way they can change is through mutation. This can happen because of all the things our body gets pelted with through out the years. Rays from the sun and our atmosphere. Eventually the enzyme that repairs our DNA cannot do so fast enough and mutations occur.
Sexual reproduction can help give more variety in your genes, but essentially the DNA is still the same.

Answer 4

DNA can also change through sexual reproduction. Crossing over leads to the exchange of information beween the gamete of the mother and the gamete of the father. Thus, information is swapped and the organism has a more diverse DNA code. Mutations has less than .000000000001% of occuring and the DNA transcriptase can still have a 50% chance of changing the wrong nucleotide base to the right one. If the world was began as bateria and continued ONLY through mutations, we would be bacteria and probably be all wiped out by a single global disaster.

Answer 5

DNA is a moulecule, an organic molecule yes, but still a molecule, not a living creature. As such it has no inteligence of it's own.
Evolution is a completely random process. It may seem odd at first that a random process could produse such convinent changes, but you have to remember the time frame we are talking about. During the process many variations of genes appear and only a tiny portion of them has a potential benifit. The multitudes of others dissaper (hopefully - negative once can also presist as it take time for natural selection to filter them out, as we can see from various genetic diseases).

Answer 6

it has no intelligence, its through random mutations. then survival of the fittest kicks in.

Answer 7

Someone has been up late watching X-Men and the Discovery Channel.