The Paradox Portal
Physical

C-Value Paradox (Genome Size Paradox)

Complex organisms don't have more genes

Overview

The observation that genome size and organism complexity don't correlate as expected.

Humans have ~20,000 genes. Some plants have 60,000. Single-celled amoebas have genomes 100 times larger than humans. Why don't complex organisms have more genetic material? Genome size doesn't predict complexity.

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