What Have Mutations Really Changed?
Most people have heard the term gene but are less familiar with the term allele (pronounced uh-LEEL). A “gene” is a specific segment of DNA that contains the code for specific traits, such as eye color, and most genes code for more than one trait. Alleles are the various versions of genes that appear in a population. When we speak of “genetic diversity” or “differences” in genes, we mean that there are multiple alleles of a particular gene, not that there are entirely new or different genes. God initially created some alleles in Adam and Eve, but others were generated by mutations, or mistakes, in DNA copying. For example, every human has a gene for eye color, called OCA2. Different variations of OCA2, called alleles, are believed to code for brown, hazel, or blue eyes. Everyone has a copy of this OCA2 gene, but our individual eye colors are determined by which OCA2 alleles we have. When we look at humans today, we want to know where all these variations came from. Did these variations
