In a conventional science paper…?
Abstract: Mutations underpin the processes in life, be it beneficial or detrimental. While mutations are assumed to be random in the bereft of selection pressures, the genetic code has underlying computable probabilities in amino acid phenotypic changes. With a wide range of implications including drug resistance, understanding amino acid changes is important. In this study, we calculated the probabilities of substitutions mutations in the genetic code leading to the 20 amino acids and stop codons. Our calculations reveal an enigmatic in-built self-preserving organization of the genetic code that averts disruptive changes at the physicochemical properties level. These changes include changes to start, aromatic, negative charged amino acids and stop codons. Our findings thus reveal a statistical mechanism governing the relationship between amino acids and the universal genetic code. –
Kwok-Fong Chan et al., Probability of change in life: Amino acid changes in single nucleotide substitutions, Biosystems, Volumes 193–194, June 2020, 104135 (paywall)
Yeah sure, but it didn’t used to be okay to talk about it without loads of Darwinblather.
Self-organization? See: Natural genetic engineering? Natural popcorn? Or something more important?
Hat tip: Philip Cunningham