Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
It is often supposed that highly repetitious DNA's arise only as a result of unusual mechanisms or in response to selective pressure. My arguments and simulations suggest, by contrast, that a pattern of tandem repeats is the natural state of DNA whose sequence is not maintained by selection. The simulations show that periodicities can develop readily from nonreptitious DNA as a result of the random accumulation of random mutations and random homology-dependent unequal crossovers. The lengths of these periodicities, and the patterns of subrepeats within them, would fluctuate in evolution, with the probability of a given pattern being dependent on the unknown exact nature of the crossover mechanism. Qualitatively, then, unequal crossover provides a reasonable and uncontrived explanation for the prevalence of highly repeated sequences in DNA and for the patterns of periodicity they evince.
George P. Smith (Fri,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: