For example a couple mutations in a gene on an esterase plasmid in a bacteria enabled the new enzyme to digest nylon. The ability to digest esters was not “lost” as it is present in multiple copies on a plasmid, but new information was definitely GAINED, as now the bacteria can digest both esters AND nylon.
Devolution is a sad sad joke played upon any creationists who wishes to embrace it.
The fact is that any expanding population has an INCREASE in genetic diversity; and some of that genetic diversity will lead to new and interesting “information”, such as the ability to digest citrate in e.coli.
==For example a couple mutations in a gene on an esterase plasmid in a bacteria enabled the new enzyme to digest nylon.
There is no gain of information. The bacteria are merely drawing upon was already frontloaded by the Creator. As Dr. Sanford points out in his book Genetic Entropy, virtually all beneficial mutations are the result of information loss, not information gain—just as predicted by the creation model.
It’s difficult to have an intelligent conversation with people who don’t even understand thermodynamics and entropy.
So the bacteria can still digest esters and now also digest nylon. However, what did the gene do before that the frame shift removed? The answer cannot be "nothing because it was junk DNA that mutated", because you can't label something for which you haven't identified the purpose. And here's something else to ponder:
Most proteins cannot do this. For instance, most genes in the nematode have stop codons if they are frame-shifted. This special repetitive nature of protein-coding DNA sequences seems really rare; one biologist with whom I’ve discussed the matter has never seen another example like it. Maybe it’s more common in bacteria. Thus, contrary to Miller, the nylonase enzyme seems “pre-designed” in the sense that the original DNA sequence was preadapted for frame-shift mutations to occur without destroying the protein-coding potential of the original gene. Indeed, this protein sequence seems designed to be specifically adaptable to novel functions.
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