A Simple Rule Drives the Evolution of Useless Complexity
Published:24 Dec.2020 Source:University of Chicago Medical Center
A new study at the University of Chicago has shown that elaborate protein structures accumulate over deep time even when they serve no purpose, because a universal biochemical property and the genetic code force natural selection to preserve them. The work was published on Dec. 9, 2020 in Nature.
Most proteins in our cells form specific complexes with other proteins, a process called multimerization. Like other kinds of complexity in biology, multimers are usually thought to persist over evolutionary time because they confer some functional benefit that is favored by natural selection.