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RETROFITTING IS HARDER. "Although it is possible for novel functions to arise within an existing gene, it is likely that there will be some degree of antagonism or adaptive conflict between the new and the old functions. By contrast, new loci are free of such constraints and constitute genetic novelty that may form the basis for lineage-specific adaptations and diversification." https://lnkd.in/dPqZs3m View in LinkedIn

"NEW GENES provide important genetic novelties responsible for biological diversity in organisms, and are often the genetic basis for lineage- or species-specific components in important biological processes and structures." https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-015-0772-4 View in LinkedIn

NEW THINKING. "There is emerging recognition that many biological processes involve important non-conserved elements, and that de novo gene birth provides an important mechanism for functional evolution." https://lnkd.in/dFMjBuF View in LinkedIn

DIFFERENTIAL EMERGENCE. "The emerging picture across different species is that de novo genes emerge at high rates." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168952515000347 View in LinkedIn

"CONSERVATION of gene and protein sequence, and, therefore, conservation of the resulting molecular interactions that mediate biological processes, is foundational to our understanding of biology. This conservation allows discovery in one organism, such as worms or mice, to inform our understanding of the biology in another organism, such as humans." https://lnkd.in/dFMjBuF View in LinkedIn

JACOB OVERTHROWN. "Gene duplication, fusion and fission of genes, exon shuffling and other ‘bricolage’ events were considered to be the only viable sources of novel protein-coding genes—all variations on a genetic theme. Proteins were thought to be made from a small and finite ‘universe of exons’. Francois Jacob articulated this best when he said ‘To create is to recombine’. However, in recent years, there has been a growing appreciation for the role of de novo gene origination." https://lnkd.in/dPqZs3m View in LinkedIn

GENE-DRIVEN DOGMA. "It was natural for scientists to assume that protein-encoding genes would be at the heart of evolutionary progress. After all, evolution has created organisms with radically different appearances and functional components." https://lnkd.in/eNHFjJ8 View in LinkedIn

EARLY FUNCTIONS OF NON-CODING DNA. "Clearly, protein-coding genes must have arisen de novo from non-coding sequence in very early life evolution." https://lnkd.in/dPqZs3m View in LinkedIn

GENETIC TINKERING. "François Jacob famously stated that nature is but a “tinkerer” of already available protein hardware, advocating the importance of duplications in gene emergence." https://lnkd.in/e3rTkFh View in LinkedIn

PURGING NOVELTY. "Any random sequence generated by chance must end up as a stable polypeptide with a function accessible by selection or end up being purged from the genome by neutral mutational processes." Here is the great scrapheap of nature's genetic experiments. https://lnkd.in/e3rTkFh View in LinkedIn