Natural Genetic EngineeringNatural genetic engineering is the ability or capacity of organisms to modify their own genomes in response to reproductive pressures. Any self-organizing evolving system that needs to adjust to a wide variety of environments will require the capacity to alter its information store. Most existing living organisms appear to possess a toolkit of natural genetic engineering functions.
Genomes constitute the long-term information storage organelles of every cell and are hierarchically organized as systems assembled from DNA modules. Each genome has a computational system architecture formatted by sequence elements that do not code for proteins. Whole-genome sequencing indicates that rearrangement of genetic modules plus duplication and reuse of existing genomic systems are fundamental events in evolution. Molecular discoveries about mechanisms of DNA restructuring show that cells possess the Natural Genetic Engineering functions necessary for evolutionary change by rearranging genomic components. These natural genetic engineering functions are sensitive to biological inputs, and their non-random operations help explain how novel system architectures can arise in evolution. Darwin himself recognized the potential for major hereditary variation "as leading to permanent modifications of structure independently of natural selection" (Origin of Species, 6th edition, Chapter XV, p. 395).
We know that cells activate natural genetic engineering functions in response to various inputs, particularly stresses (what McClintock called "genome shock"). In certain highly evolved situations, like the immune system, the responsiveness of these systems is quite extraordinary.
Web Resources On Natural Genetic Engineering
James Shapiro Chat
Natural Genetic Engineering
Book Resources On Natural Genetic EngineeringLateral DNA Transfer by Frederic Bushman
Horizontal Gene Transfer by Syvanen and Kado
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