Mutations & Evolution?

Question

If mutations only cause the loss of genetic material, and evolution is based on mutations. How is it that we humans have much more DNA than say, a fish? Maybe we really didn't evolve?

Answer 1

First, mutations do not necessarily, or even
usually cause the loss of genetic material. The
most common result of a mutation is simply to
change the form or position of the material. A
mutation can lead to an increase of genetic
material, a decrease, or no change in amount.

Second, evolution is not based solely on mutations. Evolution required variation among
idnividuals in a population, which we know exists.
The variation must be in large part inherited,
which we know is the case. Finally, some
event must change the relative proportions of
the different genetic variations in the population.
Several things can cause such a change, but the
most important one is natural selection, which is
differential production of offspring by the variants
present in the population. When these conditions are met evolution not only occurs, but
can not be avoided.

Answer 2

1) mutations don't only cause a loss of dna. they can simply result in the change in the sequence from 1 base to another. they can also result from the insertion of a base, or the duplication of a repeated sequence, or the insertion of an IS element. the last 3 methods can result in addition of DNA, not loss.

2) this common talking point about "mutations only cause the loss of genetic material" keeps popping up over and over again in posts by certain subgroups who troll y!a. would it kill you people to learn about a topic before you go on your daily missions to convert yahoo!answers people to creationism?

Answer 3

It's clear that you don't understand how mutations occur. It would be helpful, if you actually want to understand this, for you to take a basic course in genetics or, for that matter, high school biology.

The evidence from genetics very strongly supports the idea that all living things are related to each other and descended from common ancestors. But there is no way to explain that to you unless you learn a little bit more about how genetics works.

Answer 4

WE actually evolved from fish
Our geneetic structure is far more complex
The higher the organism the more comples the DNA is and mutations also give rise to new genes