Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is o...

The way that mutations affect the survival of a cell depends greatly on the location of the genetic change. In regions of the genome that do not code for genes or regulatory regions, mutations may have little effect, such that the cell can often continue as usual.

The overall effect is that non-coding sequences are free to change fairly r...