A simple statistical test shows that contrary to current practice, the "gaps" within DNA protein and sequence alignments commonly used in evolutionary biology can provide important information about nucleotide and amino acid substitutions over time. The finding could be particularly relevant to those studying distantly related species. The work appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-science-news/statistical-tool-finds-gaps-in-dna-data-sets-shouldnt-be-ignored