Biological variation in populations is the process by which genetic and phenotypic differences arise, are maintained, and change in frequency among individuals within a species. It results from the combined action of mutation, recombination, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural and sexual selection, acting on genomes across generations. At the population level, this variation underlies differences in traits such as morphology, physiology, behavior, and fitness-related characteristics, and is quantified using measures like allele frequencies, heterozygosity, and quantitative trait distributions. Population-level biological variation provides the raw material for adaptive evolution and influences population dynamics, speciation potential, and responses to environmental change.
Baboons are one of the most widespread of Africa's primate groups. They range across sub-Saharan Africa and into the Arabian Peninsula. Baboons' ability to spread across such a vast geographic area is based on their great ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 27, 2026
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Biologists group animals with similar traits into broad categories called orders. Despite their similarities, animal species in the same order can have very different average lifespans.
A new study has uncovered a previously unknown antiviral defense mechanism in sea anemones, revealing that animals may have evolved more than one way to fight viral infections. Researchers discovered that a protein resembling ...
Evolution
Jun 26, 2026
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171
When it comes to choosing a partner, some species prefer males that stand out from the crowd. Evolutionary biologists call the resulting process negative frequency-dependent selection. It means that a male has a huge mating ...
The increase in mosquito-borne virus infections is a growing public health concern. Diseases traditionally confined to tropical or subtropical regions, like dengue or West Nile virus, are expanding their geographic scope. ...
Ecology
Jun 22, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Surrey have identified a protein that acts as a control switch, preventing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from accessing the energy sources it needs to survive. The discovery points to a specific ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 22, 2026
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8
Genomic selection has revolutionized animal breeding and accelerated genetic gains in breeding programs. However, the introduction of genomic selection in some cosmopolitan breeds has also been associated with increased inbreeding ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 18, 2026
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A molecular geneticist at Montana State University has discovered a cellular process once believed impossible by scientists—the creation of the amino acid cysteine within a living cell when the cell's primary systems for ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 15, 2026
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16
A review article now published in Nature Reviews Genetics brings together evolutionary theory, comparative genomics and large-scale human genetics to explain why we age and why aging rates differ among individuals and species. ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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130
A new Yale-led study provides one of the most detailed and comprehensive analyses to date of genetic variation in human populations in Oceania, filling a major gap in representation in genomics research. Despite harboring ...
Evolution
Jun 11, 2026
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104
