Question

"Some people are tempted to say that the more genes an organism has, the more advanced it is. Discuss this idea: what kinds of arguments support it and what arguments refute it.

Answer 1

Answer:

The number of genes partially explains how an organism has evolved and how it gained complexity.

Explanation:

The number of genes of a bacteria versus an eucaryotic organism is quite distinct and so is their complexity. A prokaryotic organism like a bacteria has a set of genes necessary to exert their basic functions and the number of genes compared to a eucaryotic cell is 3-30 times smaller, which defines a direct correlation of number of genes and complexity. However if we consider only eucaryote organisms and their complexity there is no such direct correlation between number of genes and their complexity when, for example, we compare the number of genes of humans (approximately 18000) and the number of genes of the Trichomonas vaginalis, an anaerobic, flagellated protozoan parasite and the causative agent of trichomoniasis. The number of genes of T. vaginalis is far bigger than the human cell, however the human complexity is far more advanced than the parasite organism.