Question

In higher organisms, presence of repetitive DNA is for

• A. genome arrangement
• B. avoiding viable mutation
• C. gene expression
• D. just genetic load

Answer 1

The correct option is B avoiding viable mutation

The function of repetitive DNA is not completely understood as they do not code for any proteins. There is no point that a highly evolved eukaryotic cell is still keeping it with itself.
But by just having a large amount of DNA however, gives an advantage to avoid viable mutations since these sequences are non-coding in nature, so mutations in these regions have little or no effect at all. Secondly, these mutations accumulate over many generations and end up serving as raw material for speciation and evolution.