For a long time, evolutionary biologists have thought that the genetic mutations that drive the evolution of genes and proteins are largely neutral: they're neither good nor bad, but just ordinary ...

In the children’s game telephone, a whispered phrase like “I ate a pear” can quickly become “I hate bears” as it moves down a line of players. As genes are passed down from parents to offspring, they ...

Biologists are closing in on a puzzle that seems to turn classic evolutionary logic inside out, yet may be so common that it ...

A groundbreaking study published in this week’s issue of PNAS by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more ...

(Memphis, Tenn.—July 28, 2023) The influenza (flu) virus is constantly undergoing a process of evolution and adaptation through acquiring new mutations. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research ...

In the depths of the ocean, where there’s no sunlight and the pressure could crush a submarine, a handful of animals have quietly rewritten their DNA to withstand these conditions. According to a new ...

Yet modern biology has revealed that cells are preternaturally sophisticated assemblages — literally automated, miniaturized factories. How could the evidence have been overwhelming but now orthodoxy ...

Researchers have discovered that Staphylococcus aureus can rapidly evolve within a single person's microbiome. They found that in people with eczema, S. aureus tends to evolve to a variant with a ...

The influenza (flu) virus is constantly undergoing a process of evolution and adaptation through acquiring new mutations. Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have added a new layer of ...

For decades, scientists have studied animals living in or near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to see how increased levels of radiation affect their health, growth, and evolution. A study analyzed ...