Do Genes Evolve?

Yes, gene evolves. The evolution of genes is a biological process that involves the rearrangements of genes, gain or loss of a gene, changes in gene structure, etc. A gene is a basic physical and functional unit of inheritance and carries all the genetic information from the parents to the next generation. It is composed of DNA nucleotides. It carries the instructions encoded in DNA to control the manufacture of particular proteins and RNA molecules.

The genes evolve through several processes, some key processes are:

• Mutation is the process by which new genetic variations can be introduced in an organism’s characteristics. Mutations can be harmful or beneficial based on their effect.
• Natural selection,
• Duplication
• Genetic drift
• Gene Migration
• Epigenetic changes etc.

The process by which the evolution of new genes takes place from a DNA sequence is termed as De Novo Gene Birth. It was non-genic in nature.