Posted: Jul 05, 2016 7:09 pm
"then it would be astronomical odds that this particular type of mutation is reversed"
The number of nucleotides in the DNA of a bacterial cell is a few million. I couldn't find how many bacteria there are in a colony forming unit on a Petri dish, but a slightly turbid Test tube wit bacteria contains 10 to the power of 8 bacteria. So, the odds are by no means an astronomical.
Also, the test involves an identical Petri dish without the mutagen. So, the only difference is the mutagen. This dish shows the spontaneous mutations. It is the control experiment.
Bert
The number of nucleotides in the DNA of a bacterial cell is a few million. I couldn't find how many bacteria there are in a colony forming unit on a Petri dish, but a slightly turbid Test tube wit bacteria contains 10 to the power of 8 bacteria. So, the odds are by no means an astronomical.
Also, the test involves an identical Petri dish without the mutagen. So, the only difference is the mutagen. This dish shows the spontaneous mutations. It is the control experiment.
Bert