"The Origin of Specious Nonsense"

Exactly. If an essential gene mutates in a way that stops it functioning, the cell dies and the mutation dies with it. Happens all the time. We don't notice because, well, there are billions of the little bastards living on the skin of even a clean person, when one malfunctions it gets drowned out by the ones that don't. Only the essential genes that stay functioning get the chance to live long enough to get copied into a new cell. That's natural selection right there.

Non-essential genes are where all the interesting stuff happens. You could remove them all and the cell would still function and still be the species it was before. These bonus genes pretty much just faff about, undergoing mutation, chopping and changing with other non-essential genes, and eventually something useful pops up. They usually offer some competitive advantage, like compounds that kill rival species to make space for growth (which we use all the time for treating infections), or proteins that bind really, REALLY well to rare metals that are essential for growth (denying food to rivals is just as good as killing them off), or the ability to metabolise whole new substances and grow into a niche no other species has exploited (there are, for example, bacteria that can now break down and consume nylon. It wasn't created in a lab, it was found growing in water polluted by waste from nylon factories).

To be fair, the position in a chromosome can help too. If a redundant gene is very close to a highly conserved gene, it's less likely to undergo mutation, as there'll often be neighboring genes which are responsible for repairing damaged DNA. Some of those will end up fixing the neighborhood just because they're there and damaged. In Streptomyces species, the chromosome is linear rather than a circular loop. The genes that make it Streptomyces are highly conserved and are found in the central region of the chromosome, while the non-essential genes are found out towards either arm.

But I digress. Evolution happens. That's how life works. Not a single biological scientist with a shred of integrity, dignity or credibility disagrees. The only people who think otherwise are lying or lacking understanding of the process. You'll notice an awful lot of "creation scientists" who try to rubbish evolution tend to have degrees with nothing to do in biological science. That's assuming they have any degrees at all that weren't bought in a shed in the arse end of nowhere. I really wish mickrock would pick up a book and see for himself. I mean, J C is clearly a lost cause...