avocationist
Posts: 173
Joined: Feb. 2006
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| Quote | I'd be very interested in your source which states that any mutation is specifically directed. I am aware of papers that show an increased mutation rate under certain stress situations (such as application of antibiotics), which would naturally lead to a faster rate of "finding" an antibiotic resistance mutation. But I am not aware of any that show specifically directed mutations in bacteria.
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It gets turned on in response to the environment, is confined to speific loci in the genome, and is turned off when it's job is done. The mutations which occur under those conditions are random. Thus it took (if I understood the article) 3 months to produce the nylon eating mutation(s) but apparently that was not the only time it occurred. Spetner mentions it being discovered accidentally 30 years after nylon was invented.
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