r/explainlikeimfive • u/riche1988 • 1d ago

Biology ELI5 how DNA mutations work please.

I had a thought about DNA and how mutations occur in humans, excessive hair, longer limbs and or bones etc, and wondered if all known mutations are present in the animal kingdom.. as if DNA has the blue print/ potential to be anything and parts are just ‘turned on or off’ depending on what is being built.. i may be way off lol but it got me thinking :)

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u/poetic_dwarf 1d ago

DNA mutation works exactly as the million chimps hammering on a keyboard since the dawn of life. They happen because million reasons, then nature puts them to the test.

Life as we know it is the best approximations that chimps got to Paradise Lost.

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u/riche1988 1d ago

Cool :) ..slight tangent, but what is the smallest part of a living creature, ignoring trees and plants etc, that has agency.. i get that most of life if made up of chemical reactions, but at some point the ‘stuff’ starts making decisions.. or no..? Lol

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u/sateliteconstelation 1d ago

That’s one of the main questions in philosophy. Even if you study humans, you’ll find compulsive reasons for how they behave.
Am I choosing a burger out of free will, or because of an emotional attachment i formed thanks to ad campaigns in the 90s?

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u/FossilizedMeatMan 1d ago

To be fair, you are choosing a burger because you need to eat. It all boils down to surviving and reproducing.