Evolution of higher-organism DNA

Abstract

A great deal of information about evolutionary events and processes has been inferred from careful studies of fossil records. Other forms of evidence have also contributed greatly to the understanding of evolution. Comparative biochemistry (Florkin, 1949), immunology (Boyden, 1942), protein sequencing (Dayoff, 1969; Anfinsen, 1959), and early DNA studies (McCarthy & Bolton, 1963; Schildkraut, Marmur & Doty, 1961) have for the most part corroborated earlier evolutionary findings, and at the same time provided new understanding of molecular processes in evolution. Of these approaches the comparison of DNA seems most promising since a relatively precise quantitative comparison can be made of all of the genetic material of different species.