Question

where do new genes come from

Answer 1

One of the key ways in which new genes appear is following a type of mutation known as a 'gene duplication'. During cell duplication, sections of DNA are often copied by accident onto the same or a different chromosome. If a segment of DNA contains an intact *gene*, then you end up with a second copy of the same gene. Sometimes this is lethal, as it results in the overproduction of some protein, or production of some protein or structure at the wrong time during development. But often these duplicated genes have no effect at all, as the production of the protein or structure they produce, is controlled by some regulator (like another protein, such as a hormone).

In short, a duplicated gene can be lethal, but it may have no immediate effect at all. It is neither harmful nor beneficial, and can persist in the population for generations.

Once a duplicate copy of a gene gets produced this way, then *any* other kind of mutation (a substutition, inversion, frameshift error, etc.) can alter one of the two copies, and alter the resulting protein. The result is a *new gene*.

Note that this second mutation may occur *at the same time* as the gene duplication (i.e. a duplication where an error occurs during the creation of the second copy) ... or this second mutation may occur hundreds or thousands of generations later.

The end result is the same. A new gene that produces a new protein with different properties.

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Example:

The gene that codes for the production of the third pigment (protein) in the retina of humans, apes, and the monkeys of Africa and Asia that gives them all three-color vision, has been traced to a gene duplication of the second of these proteins. (Other mammals, including the monkeys of Central and South America, do not have this gene, which is why they have two-color vision ... commonly called 'color-blind.')

- Hope This Helps, Popraci

Answer 2

Don't take other people's writing as your own @Popraci

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