Scientists believe that the ability of a microbe to acquire DNA mutations that are useful for surviving it's external environment is an example of natural selection. Scientists consider this to be the best example of evolution and "evolution that we can see in the lab."
The DNA mutations that allow microbes to adapt to their environment within their own separate entity of species is not evidence of evolution from one species of microbes to another.
The useful traits acquired through DNA mutations, such as the trait of antibiotic resistance, can also be lost and forgotten over time.
Can bacteria lose their antibiotic resistance?
"Yes, antibiotic resistance traits can be lost, but this reverse process occurs more slowly. If the selective pressure that is applied by the presence of an antibiotic is removed, the bacterial population can potentially revert to a population of bacteria that responds to antibiotics."
If what is being considered as evidence of natural selection and evolution does not show a change from one species of microbes to another, and it's acquired trait through what we consider to be natural selection can be lost and forgotten over time, then DNA mutations in microbes are not evidence of evolution.
© 2021 Hazon, Nir
