Preassembly Theory Invoking Prehistoric DNA Alterations

Abstract

Abstract Preassembly refers to an evolutionary mechanism that complements current theory. It proposes that genes and gene fragments, formed over the eons among libraries of noncoding genes, ultimately contributed to coding sequences. Previous publications of ours on preassembly have helped explain many enigmas that beset modern biology; for example, the Cambrian explosion (“one of the most remarkable and puzzling events in the history of life,” S. J. Gould), and the appearance of flowering plants with their sparsity of precursors (an “abominable mystery,” C. R. Darwin). The rapid evolutionary development of the domestic cat and human intelligence is also viewed as evidence for a mechanism supplementing neo-Darwinism. The current account centers on convergent evolution as interpreted via DNA preassembly. Convergent evolution refers to the development of near-identical traits in organisms that lack a common ancestor. A prime example is the remarkable similarity between the eyes of humans and octopuses. When early ancestors of these species split apart on the evolution tree, hundreds of millions of years ago, only eyespots existed. Clearly, convergent eyes in the two organisms evolved independently. Current evolutionary belief says that the eyes appeared after Nature had first screened hundreds of mutations, one at a time, and that this multistep and random process produced, fortuitously, two near identical structures. Preassembly, on the other hand, proposes primeval genes, or DNA segments, that had been collected over vast time periods within huge libraries of noncoding DNA (i.e., “preassembled genes”). Ultimately, these DNA units were incorporated into functional genes, a process possibly aided by genetic site-scanning. Graphical Abstract Key References Menger, F. M. (2017). Molecular Lamarckism. On the evolution of human intelligence. World Futures, 73, 89–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/02604027.2017.1319669 Menger, F. M. (2020). An alternative view of evolution, how DNA was altered over geological time. Molecules, 25, 5081. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25215081 Menger, F. M., & Rizvi, S. A. A. (2021). Evolution of complexity. Molecular aspects of preassembly. Molecules, 26, 6618. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26216618