Hello everyone,
Recently I got very interested in Biology and especially genetics and evolution. But I have a question that I don't seem to get answered, or maybe I don't understand the answer enough, so I wondered if somebody could help me out?
So the question is how DNA "knows" wich phenotype it needs to be? What I understand from evolution theory (I'm still studying it so correct me if I'm wrong) is that organisms that adapt better to certain enviorment, are more likely to survive and reproduce, so there will be more organism with the certain gen that produces the favorable type of change. An example wich I saw in a documentary got me thinking. The example was a desert rat that first had a brown fur, the same as the sand, and when volcanic eruptions took place, and the soil became black rocks, it became black. I understand that the certain gen that produces a black fur is then favorable but how does the DNA "know" (I know DNA doesn't know anything like humans do but I don't have a better word for it now) to turn more black. It isn't true that the rats become purple and yellow and green and black, and than the black ones rats are better adapted so they survive, right? So how does the DNA know this? Or am I thinking about it in the wrong way?
I hope somebody can answer my question and correct me if I'm wrong in any of my assumptions.