From Jessica Hamzelou at New Scientist on a study in Iceland that shows that old fathers pass on more mutations than old mothers: “If a sequence is not present in the parents but is present in the child, then it’s new,” says Stefánsson. They discovered that 80 per cent of new mutations come from the father, and that the number of mutations increases in line with the age of the parents. … These mutations won’t all be harmful. We’re all born with at least 70 new mutations, and most of these don’t affect the way our bodies and brains work. “The vast majority of mutations don’t matter, says Leo Schalkyk at the University of Essex. “There might be the occasional … Continue reading What? Only an “extremely occasional” mutation is beneficial? But Darwinism… ?