Molecular evolution is the biological process encompassing changes in the nucleotide sequences of DNA or RNA and the amino acid sequences of proteins over time, driven by mutation, recombination, genetic drift, natural selection, and other population-level forces. It focuses on the rates and patterns of substitutions, insertions, deletions, and genome rearrangements, as well as the emergence of new genes and regulatory elements. Molecular evolution underlies divergence among species, functional innovation, and conservation of essential biomolecules, and is quantitatively analyzed using models of sequence evolution, comparative genomics, and phylogenetic inference to elucidate evolutionary relationships and constraints at the molecular level.
A new University of California San Diego study published in Cell challenges a long-standing assumption about how animal viruses become capable of sparking human epidemics and pandemics. Using a phylogenetic, genome-wide analysis ...
Evolution
Mar 9, 2026
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EPFL researchers have developed a light-based method that can produce proteins that switch states, respond to signals, and even compute, using light and the cell cycle.
Biotechnology
Mar 6, 2026
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28
Our single-celled ancestor lived in a world without plants, animals or oxygen-rich oceans. Yet, this seemingly simple microorganism took the first steps toward complex life. From this ancestor emerged all multicellular (complex) ...
Evolution
Mar 5, 2026
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Biology textbooks explain that cells follow a universal rule when processing gene transcripts to make proteins. Non-coding snippets of RNA are bracketed by a guanine-thymine (GT) nucleotide sequence on one end and an adenine-guanine ...
Biotechnology
Mar 5, 2026
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13
The DNA foundation model Evo 2 has been published in the journal Nature. Trained on the DNA of over 100,000 species across the entire tree of life, Evo 2 can identify patterns in gene sequences across disparate organisms ...
Biotechnology
Mar 4, 2026
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127
Plants are fast-tracking their own evolution by "plugging in" genetic code stolen from their neighbors, according to new research that reveals the secret to their own successful genetic engineering. The study, led by Catherine ...
Evolution
Mar 2, 2026
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Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during ...
Evolution
Feb 27, 2026
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Duckweed is the fastest-growing flowering plant, but new knowledge of duckweed genetics discovered by Adelaide University researchers could lead to even faster growing rates. The research team, led by Professor Nikolai Borisjuk ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 27, 2026
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43
The preference of some mosquitoes in the Anopheles leucosphyrus (Leucosphyrus) group—including those that transmit malaria—for feeding on humans may have evolved in response to the arrival of early hominins in Southeast Asia ...
Evolution
Feb 26, 2026
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54
Ribosomes are the components of cells that read RNA and build proteins. Without the ribosome, the chemistry of life would still be catalyzed by raw RNA. And yet the origin of the ribosome remains a mystery. In a Perspective ...
Evolution
Feb 24, 2026
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