However, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, was examined by the

Pennsylvania and Kentucky biologists in order to look for some real-world evidence of selection
acting on evolvability.
Evolution lacks a mechanism for actively anticipating the future, as evolvability does.
B. burgdorferi, like all infectious microbes, produces proteins that are visible on their surfaces.The
immune system learns to recognize these proteins, latch onto them, and eliminate B. burgdorferi
cells in order to prevent infection.B. burgdorferi sometimes alters its surface proteins in a
countermovement, a feat that necessitates altering the DNA of the organism.Fortunately, B.
burgdorferi bacteria frequently carry a collection of unused DNA, known as cassettes, that can
quickly transform into working DNA and provide instructions for the production of various
surface proteins that the infected individual's immune system cannot recognize.Sneaky!