Abstract
Here Hargreaves talks about genetics and evolution. The fat sand rat is a strange creature. It lives in burrows, eats around 80% of its body mass in leaves each day and doesn't drink water. But the really odd thing about this gerbil is that some of its DNA appears to be missing. The discovery of dark DNA is so recent that we are still trying to work out how widespread it is and whether it benefits those species that possess it. However, its very existence raises some fundamental questions about genetics and evolution. We may need to look again at how adaptation occurs at the molecular level. Controversially, dark DNA might even be a driving force of evolution. Being crucial for normal physiology, this gene is found in all vertebrates. Intriguingly, though, genetic studies had failed to spot it in sand rats. Yet they have a normal pancreas and are able to secrete insulin
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