Biological adaptation is the evolutionary process through which heritable traits that enhance an organism’s fitness become more prevalent in a population over generations under specific environmental conditions. It operates primarily via natural selection acting on genetic variation, including mutations, recombination, and gene flow, and is constrained by developmental, genetic, and phylogenetic factors. Adaptations can be morphological, physiological, or behavioral and are typically characterized by increased survival or reproductive success in a given niche. The process is dynamic and context-dependent, such that traits advantageous in one environment may be neutral or deleterious in another, contributing to diversification and speciation.
Nature is beautiful, powerful and essential. But nature is not always gentle. The same biological world that gives rise to forests, coral reefs and human life also produces infections, cancer, genetic disease, crop blights ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 12, 2026
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17
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time that the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii alters the activity of about one-third of its protein-coding genes in response even to moderate temperature changes. The study, ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 10, 2026
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17
A new study in PLOS Biology of 133 species of flies, mosquitoes and their relatives shows that most species fly in surprisingly similar ways. Physical and aerodynamic laws shape the evolution of their flight behavior more ...
Evolution
Jul 10, 2026
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148
Facing both climate change and a crashing pollinator population, plants may be evolving to attract pollinators rather than adapting to a warming climate, and the trade-off has resulted in a steep decline in plants' rate of ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2026
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360
To people, salt is a kitchen staple. But to crops, too much of it can be devastating. Across coastal regions and irrigated agricultural land, salt is accumulating in soils, making it harder for plants to absorb water and ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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6
If you visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, on the edge of London, you will see a brightly painted skeleton of a dead oak tree. The tree, known as the climate-changed oak, succumbed in the heat wave of 2022. Instead of ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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20
A tiny mouse living nearly 7,000 meters (23,000 feet) above sea level in the Andes is helping scientists rethink the limits of life on Earth. The animal, a leaf-eared mouse, is the focus of a new international study co-authored ...
Evolution
Jul 9, 2026
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354
As heat waves continue one after another, we are feeling their effects on our own bodies: It becomes harder for us to function normally. Trees also have their limits when temperatures are too high. Above a certain critical ...
Ecology
Jul 9, 2026
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39
Nature has invented countless types of pointy appendages, and scientists have long sought to explain what makes these structures so effective at puncturing other things. A new study models the key physical characteristics ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 8, 2026
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12
Long before the dawn of modern parenting, animals laid eggs and moved on, leaving their progeny to fend for themselves. Now, a study published in Nature uncovers one of the elegant ways evolution transformed neglect into ...
Evolution
Jul 8, 2026
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