Henry J
Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005
|
I'd think that extensive HGT would show up in comparisons of genetic sequences, since such would result in lots of genes that aren't directly related to genes in the close relatives of the species that got them via HGT.
As for the not enough time for new genes to form, I don't think so. As I recall, humans have around 4 billion base pairs, we seperated from chimps around 6 million years ago, and we have about 1% difference in base pairs in DNA that's common to both species (the other 2% difference is from DNA that isn't in common). 4 billion * 0.01 / 6 million gives about 7 base pair differences per year. Half of that due to changes in each species, so about 4 base pairs per year, or between 40 and 80 depending on average generation span. If I'm not mistaken that's fairly close to the expected mutation rate (over the entire genome) from a common ancestor 6 million years ago.
Henry
|
