Final answer:
Introns are significant to biological evolution because they allow exons to be rearranged, creating proteins with new combinations of functional domains.
Step-by-step explanation:
The presence of introns in genes is significant to biological evolution because they allow exons to be moved around more easily, creating proteins with new combinations of functional domains.
Introns are noncoding sequences of DNA that are transcribed into mRNA but are removed during a process called splicing. This splicing allows for the rearrangement of exons, which are the coding sequences, to create different variations of a protein.
By enabling the creation of new combinations of exons, introns contribute to genetic diversity and the evolution of biological organisms.
Introns, by having non-coding sequences, act as a buffer for mutations and can extend the time required for gene expression, thus influencing the evolutionary process. Moreover, gene duplication and alternative splicing are mechanisms associated with introns that further contribute to genetic variation and the development of species diversity.