
Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University College London have developed a new theory of molecular evolution, offering insights into how genes function, how the rates of evolutionary divergence can be predicted, and how harmful mutations arise at a basic level.
"Molecules are the basis of all life and we wanted to find out why molecules evolve the way they do," said study co-author David Pollock, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the CU School of Medicine.
Pollock and fellow author Richard Goldstein, Ph.D., professor of infection and immunity at University College London, published the study October 23, 2017 in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Their theory of evolutionary mechanics transforms evolving molecular systems into a framework where the tools of statistical mechanics can be applied, opening a novel window into how protein evolution works.
"The approach rests on understanding proteins as integrated systems," said Goldstein. "Too often we ignore interactions between different parts of a protein, but we know that changes in one part of the protein affect subsequent changes in other parts. It turns out this is really important for understanding why these molecules evolve the way they do."
Proteins constantly change as mutations become fixed or eliminated depending on the protein structure, function and stability. This depends on amino acid interactions throughout the protein that cause evolution at one site to alter the chance of evolution at other sites.
The scientists discovered that they could predict rates of protein evolution based on their biochemical properties.
"This was a real surprise," Pollock said. "Our theory accounts for well-known population genetics effects such as strength of selection and effective population size, but they drop out of the final equations that predict the rate of molecular evolution."
For years, researchers have run up against problems with standard models of molecular evolution used in studying the evolutionary relationships among species. This led to difficulties in reconstructing important evolutionary events in ancestral organisms.
These patterns of molecular convergence were found to change regularly over evolutionary time in ways that indicated continually fluctuating constraints in different parts of proteins.
"This flips around the usual idea that the amino acids will adjust to the requirements of the rest of the protein," Goldstein said. "But we couldn't explain exactly why this happened, or whether there was any regularity to the process."
But once the system was placed into a statistical mechanics framework, the magnitude of amino acid entrenchment was seen as central to understanding rates of evolutionary divergence.
The researchers said that the strength of selection in protein evolution is balanced by the sequence entropy of folding, the number of sequences that provide a protein with a given degree of stability.
"We like to think of the other amino acids as a bunch of kids jumping down on a memory foam mattress while you try to walk on it," Pollock said. "Most of the time your feet are sunk into the mattress and you can't step forward, but every so often the kids will create a dent in the mattress that allows you to step ahead."
Explore further:
New discovery challenges long-held evolutionary theory
More information:
Richard A. Goldstein et al. Sequence entropy of folding and the absolute rate of amino acid substitutions, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0338-9
Bart_A
Time to throw away this unfounded theory.
humy
That's simply not true.
And the basic underlining theory of evolution does not only make perfect sense but is proven to be true by a vast mountain of irrefutable evidence. So much so that anyone that denies it, just like any member of the flat-Earth society, is either extremely ignorant or extremely delusional or both.
434a
There are around 5,000 known human genetic disorders (illnesses).
~4.5% of all children born have some form of genetic illness. That's 600,000 children born, globally each year.
50% of pregnancies end in miscarriage and there are ~131 million live births per year presently, so 65.5 million miscarriages each year.
Surely you have cogent explanation for that level of error, how does your perfect world account for that?
TheGhostofOtto1923
Ie genetic disorders are our own fault. Don't you feel guilty?
You've got to remember, religions have had millenia to develop clever ways of covering their ass. And as they evolved, innovations from lessons learned were constantly incorporated so that we are left with the highly polished and refined bullshit machines we see today.
This is true intelligent design.
434a
Cogent being the operative word ;)
Hyperfuzzy
TheGhostofOtto1923
Hyperfuzzy
Belief in God is a connotation to the Living God before money. Are the one's the Christians murdered, the scientist, the philosophers? Reflect upon an Ancient Hieroglyphic "The Declaration of Human Rights". Note the posting. Well, we are here, being disrespectful. Not that world, with focus upon respect, cooperation, logic. No try a fantasy God, pay for your sins(everything) with the gold we stole.
Hyperfuzzy
Hyperfuzzy
Hyperfuzzy
Da Schneib
Think of it as evolution in action.
Hyperfuzzy
Only obvious truths are ignored; else, you are able to define technique, method, control, ... not this nonsense. Hence, we are not scientist, we are money grubbing idiots.
Whydening Gyre
Perhaps Bart is struggling with the enormity of "experiments" nature is performing at any given moment with any given number of atom, molecules, environments, etc.
It's WAY more than the number of atoms we've calculated to be in the Universe...
Whydening Gyre
Yes way, Ted...
Hyperfuzzy
Whydening Gyre
HF,
Your comment indicates you are a fan of Heisenberg...:-)
georgi_gladyshev
Have a look at please:
1. On General Physical Principles of Biological Evolution https://www.resea...volution
2. Hierarchical Thermodynamics: Foundation of Extended Darwinism
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) • February 2017
https://www.resea...arwinism
3. Life - A Complex Spontaneous Process Takes Place against the Background of Non-Spontaneous Processes Initiated by the Environment
https://www.omics...0188.pdf
Da Schneib
Hyperfuzzy
Heisenberg used methods defined by QM. QM or the wave equation, potential and kinetics has an error, mass. Unresolvable. The particles being measured do not exist; however, the momentum and position of the charge centers added to your solutions will produce correct effects but the interpretation and causality? Heisenberg did not have our tools. So no cat in the box.
Hyperfuzzy
So, using unverifiable methods, eh?