Is the Body's Recovery Kind of Like Species Adaptation?

  If we believe a species evolves in order to adapt to its environment, then aren't we saying that if it needs fins, it grows them? Obviously, that is part of what we are saying.
  So, if a person tears the cartilage in his knee, that means he is without cartilage. So, does the DNA immediately send a message asking to cope with the problem -- to adapt to it? Now, yes, the species already has cartilage in the knee, so that means the next person born will have it.
   But, I still wonder if a message is created, saying, "Deal with this problem." And, I wonder if the DNA goes to work right then on solving the problem.
  The pain might even be a manifestation of that DNA message, and it might be the way the problem is solved. The pain tells the body to stop using the knee, so the person stops using the knee, and the problem is solved. The body adapted to the problem.
   But, what if the person keeps using the knee? Obviously, it would seem the cartilage could continue to be torn, and become worse. But, is it possible that the pain continues to send a message to the DNA, saying, "Find a way to deal with this"?
  Now, in some cases when the body is hurt, and the DNA sends messages to deal with it, the answer might be to die. Die and the pain goes away. You adapted to the pain.
  But, other times?
  In college, days after running a marathon and while my body had not recovered -- as a joke -- I tried out for the football team. The coach instructed me to run down the field, then cut sharply in to receive the pass. As I did, my knee snapped. The doctor told me the cartilage was torn. Now, cartilage is not suppose to repair itself. You tear it, that's it. Now, I am not saying that the cartilage ever repaired itself. And, maybe the doctor missed on his diagnosis. Perhaps the cartilage didn't tear, but was just strained, for I do not know that I even had an X-ray to know for sure there was a tear.
  I will only say that today, it seems to have recovered. For years, it hurt, but eventually the hurt went away. Here's the point: The body recovered. Whether it was just a strain or a tear, the body recovered.
  Often, we suffer injuries and the body recovers. Thinking about how species evolve and adapt, I wonder if the same DNA process that brings about that change -- that causes a species to sprout fins -- is at play in recovery of the body.