The Evolution of Adenine Synthesis

Calculation of the Knowledge and Information

The total number of amino acids found in these enzymes is not nearly as important as the number of higher conserved amino acids. From figure 13.2 to 13.5, it appears that approximated 20-30% of the amino acids in these proteins belong to highly conserved patches.

     So of the 4527 amino acids found in these enzymes, assume that only 20% contribute to knowledge. With this assumption, the numbers found in the preliminary calculation now need to be multiplied by 20%.

Molecular Knowledge = 4527 x .2 x 7 bits per amino acid= 6,338 bits
(black and gray regions)

Information = 4527 x .8 x 2 bits per amino acid = 7,243 bits
(white regions)

Total number of bits: 13,581 bits

Odd for success -> 1 in 2¹³⁵⁸¹ of 1 in 2 x 10⁴⁰⁸⁸

         In figure 13.6, the total number of bits calculated above is shown as the first step. In this special case, information and knowledge are additive. This can be done because the information must evolve before self replication is possible, so natural selection is not active. Furthermore, in this case, the information is a form of knowledge - the knowledge to use only the twenty biological amino acids in the soup.

Figure 13.6: The Evolution of Molecular Knowledge Required to Synthesize Adenine

At this scale, the scientist is so small that he is not visible in the picture. There is no way he can climb the wall.

   Adenine synthesis is perhaps the best example of an irreducibly complex system that can be found in life, but there are many other metabolic pathways that need all of their enzymes to at least be partially functional before they can have any function at all.

       Many proteins are complexes of smaller peptides, and many of these proteins are themselves irreducibly complex. This will be the subject of the next chapter.

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