Second, the basic patterns, and therefore the describing equations, have the same form irrespective of the intron content of the genes considered here. This could be indicative of the monitoring process hypothesized above also functioning irrespective of whether the sequences are intronless or intron-rich. Since mutations and other evolutionary changes have led to modifications in the coding sequences within the requirements of maintaining protein functionality, the introns may have a role to play such as maintaining the structure of base arrangements so that the restrictions implied by the equations 16, 17 can continue to apply. We could perhaps consider for support for this contention the globin genes where the beta globins separated from the alphas quite late, but the introns of the beta globin cluster are generally longer than the alpha globins while the coding sequences, though with differences, remain at almost the same length. If sustained, such a hypothesis could lend support to the intron late theory.