Because
three million blocks cannot fit in a basket, the trapped scientist is now given a truck
(figure 5.1). The blocks in the truck are determined by table 5.1. The scientist can draw
blocks from a tube that connects his room to the back of the truck. How much information
would insulin contain, if it evolves given these constraints.
Figure 5.1: Trapped Scientist with a Truck
Table 5.2: Information in Insulin B Chain (Primordial Evolution)
pos |
allowed amino
acids |
bits |
pos |
allowed amino
acids |
bits |
2 |
phe, ala, leu, val |
3.1 |
17 |
phe, tyr |
12.1 |
3 |
val, ala, pro |
3.1 |
18 |
leu |
9.3 |
4 |
pro, lys, asn |
11.5 |
19 |
val, ile |
8.2 |
5 |
gln |
13.1 |
20 |
cys |
13.1 |
6 |
his, arg |
15.4 |
21 |
gly |
3.0 |
7 |
leu |
9.3 |
22 |
asp, glu |
7.4 |
8 |
cys |
13.1 |
23 |
arg |
16.4 |
9 |
gly |
3.0 |
24 |
gly |
3.0 |
10 |
ala, pro, ser |
3.1 |
25 |
phe |
13.1 |
11 |
his |
16.4 |
26 |
phe, tyr |
12.1 |
12 |
leu |
9.3 |
27 |
tyr |
13.1 |
13 |
val |
8.5 |
28 |
thr, ser, asn |
10.1 |
14 |
glu, asp |
7.4 |
29 |
pro |
12.2 |
15 |
ala |
3.2 |
30 |
lys, arg |
15.4 |
16 |
leu |
9.3 |
31 |
ala, arg, thr, ser |
3.1 |
Total bits = 280.5 bits
Example calculation: Phenylalanine, alanine, leucine and valine are
possible at position one. There are 5,650 blocks labeled leu, 395,000 labeled alanine,
9,750 labeled valine, and 400 labeled phenylalanine in the truck. The total number of
blocks is 3,520,880. So the probability that the scientist will pull a leucine, alanine,
phenylalanine, or valine is (395,000+9,750+5,650+400) = 410,800 times in 3,520,880 tries.
Thus the information at position one is calculated as follows: information = 3.32 x log
(3,520,880/410,800) = 3.1 bits.
The total number of bits is 280.5. In chapter 4, the total for the B
chain was only 108 bits. Intuitively, this is obvious because any proteins that emerge in
the primordial soup will be composed of mostly alanine and glycine. Since real proteins do
not follow this pattern, they are less likely to evolve in the primordial soup. The
conclusion is that it is much harder for information and knowledge to evolve in the
primordial soup.
The B chain of insulin contains 30 amino acids. So the average
information contributed by each amino acid is equal to the total information divided by
30.
Information before life = 280.5/ 30 = 9.35 bits per amino acid
Information with the genetic code = 108/30 = 3.6 bits per amino acid
Because knowledge is defined in terms of information, it too must increase.
next: Primordial
Soup Knowledge
home: Intelligent Design and the Origin of Life
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