How did mutation influence human evolution?
1 Answer
According to Neo Darwinian evolutionary theory mutations are responsible not only for human evolution but all decent with modification from a single cell to present complexity.
Explanation:
Mendelian inheritance genetics are completely conservative. Nothing new is created by normal genetic reproduction. Natural selection can only eliminate forms of DNA that are less suited to the present environment. Natural selection leads to extinction not the creation of new and novel life forms.
Mutations are only possible source of new and novel information according to Neo Darwinian theory. So mutations are responsible for the total of human evolution if the theory is to be believed.
There is no empirical evidence that mutations ever result in new, better, or novel information. All empirically observed mutations result in a loss of information not a gain in information. However as mutations are the only known established natural changes in the DNA it is assumed that mutations are responsible for the changes in the DNA that caused the formation of human species.
