Genetic Redundancy
Genetic information exhibits redundancy through gene duplication and gene families - groups of genes with similar sequences and overlapping functions.
Genetic information exhibits redundancy through gene duplication and gene families - groups of genes with similar sequences and overlapping functions. This arises through whole-genome duplications or segmental duplications. During the period when duplicates remain functionally similar, they provide backup. If one copy is damaged by mutation, the other maintains function. Hemoglobin exemplifies this: multiple alpha-globin-like genes (HBA1, HBA2) and beta-globin-like genes provide backup so individuals with mutations inactivating one gene usually remain healthy.
Business Application of Genetic Redundancy
Gene duplication provides a biological model for maintaining backup capabilities that can diverge over time - one copy maintains essential function while the other experiments with variations that might confer new advantages.