>>39827890Mutations themselves are actually pretty natural. They happen all the time and many bacteria actively rely on mutations to become more infectious. It's just that the vast, vast majority of mutations aren't actually useful and sometimes downright detrimental.
Human, and animal, cells have a ridiculously impressive array of systems to try and keep the amount of mutations to the absolute minimum. Sometimes these systems miss something and usually this just leads to apoptosis, the process of a cell committing suicide in an organized manner. In rare cases a mutation slips through both the self-repair systems and the self-terminating systems and get the chance to express itself, in even more rare cases said mutation is actually beneficial and is able to propagate and you get a new trait in a species.
This is most easily observed with bacteria, due to the speed at which they multiply, the fact that they're single-celled organisms and having fewer and worse systems to manage mutations by design. That's also why you should always finish your antibiotic treatment.
Sadly, natural selection is amazingly short sighted and only cares about immediate gain and has no long term plans. See also sickle cell anemia.
t. failed microbiologist
