Question

New gene functions are thought to be gained by duplication of an existing gene creating two tandem copies.

(a) True

(b) False

The question was posed to me in semester exam.

I would like to ask this question from Sequence Assembly and Gene Identification in portion Collecting & Storing Sequences in Laboratory of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Correct answer is (a) True

The best I can explain: Functional differentiation then occurs between the copies by mutation and selection. However, because most mutations are deleterious, and because only one gene copy may be needed for function, there is a strong tendency of one copy to accumulate mutations that render the gene nonfunctional.