Question

Nylon is a material made by humans. A nylon factory released wastewater containing small pieces of nylon into a pond. Some bacteria in this pond were able to eat the nylon and use it for energy. These bacteria could do this because they had a protein that could break the nylon down. This protein had developed through a mutation and was not present in any other strain of bacteria.

Which of the following correctly explains the information?
A.
Bacteria have the ability to create new proteins to match their environment.
B.
Some bacteria learned how to digest nylon, and other bacteria learned from them.
C.
Materials made by humans are useful to organisms and cause beneficial mutations.
D.
The mutation resulted in a beneficial trait that enhanced survival, and offspring inherited it.

Answer 1

D.

A random mutation produced a protein (enzyme) that could break down nylon. In the nylon-polluted pond those bacteria had a survival/reproductive advantage, so the trait became more common in their descendants (natural selection). The other choices imply purposeful change, learning, or that human-made materials cause mutations, which is incorrect.