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Abstract

The study tested whether genetic mutations (point mutations) are random or non-random phenomena through simulation experiments using the amino acid sequencing of human CD4 lymphocytes. The randomness or lack thereof of point mutations has crucial implications to Darwin‘s theory of evolution and natural selection. A single hypothesis is tested in the study , namely, that genetic mutations can be regarded as both random and deterministic. This hypothesis was accepted since no significant difference was noted in the mutations induced by a purely random process (Beta(.5,.5)) and a deterministic chaotic dynamical function (logistic function on [0,1]). The beta density was used as a representation of a random process since it is the ergodic distribution of the corresponding deterministic dynamical system. The implication is that if it were possible to discover the driving function for the genetic sequencing of nucleotide bases then point mutations can be predicted. However, as the study has demonstrated, even knowing that the point mutations are in fact deterministically generated, knowledge of the initial conditions is a crucial factor in predicting the mutation outcomes because chaotic dynamical systems are extremely sensitive to initial conditions.

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