Evolution, as a scientific topic, encompasses the study of heritable change in populations of organisms over successive generations, driven primarily by mechanisms such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, and recombination. It investigates how genetic variation arises and is differentially propagated, leading to adaptation, speciation, and macroevolutionary patterns observable in phylogenies and the fossil record. Research in this area integrates population genetics, comparative genomics, quantitative genetics, and developmental biology to elucidate processes shaping genetic architecture, fitness landscapes, and phenotypic diversity, as well as the tempo and mode of evolutionary change across different ecological and genomic contexts.
A new computational program, MicroFinder, enables faster and more accurate assembly of bird genomes. Improved genome assemblies will help researchers better understand bird biology, evolution, and help inform conservation ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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10
Pressed plant specimens collected centuries ago and stored in herbaria around the world could play a key role in facilitating the tracking of genetic change and extinction risk in plants, a McGill University-led study indicates.
Plants & Animals
May 21, 2026
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11
The genomics of peppermint are not as fresh as their flavor but scientists from the University of California, Davis, have found a way to breathe new genetic variation into the species. The findings, published in the Proceedings ...
Biotechnology
May 14, 2026
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31
In flowering plants, the transition from cross-fertilization (outcrossing) to self-fertilization has evolved repeatedly across species. This shift is often accompanied by a well-known set of traits collectively called the ...
Plants & Animals
May 12, 2026
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6
Biologists have long puzzled over why organisms with similar numbers of protein-coding genes can differ so dramatically in nervous system complexity. New research points to a potential link between the expanding diversity ...
Evolution
May 11, 2026
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17
When scientists think about how plants will respond to climate change, they often look north. As temperatures rise, many species are expected to shift their ranges toward cooler regions with a loss of populations in warmer ...
Evolution
May 11, 2026
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11
Watermelon is a quintessential summertime fruit, evoking images of warm, sunny afternoons and cookouts with friends and family. You can easily picture its striped, green rind and pink flesh, imagine the delicate crunch as ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 5, 2026
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11
Indigenous people of the Andes were the first to domesticate the potato, making the starch-rich crop a dietary staple for this high-altitude population long before it spread to the rest of the world. Today, their descendants ...
Evolution
May 5, 2026
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443
How do our genes determine our appearance and our susceptibility to disease? This question is central to biomedical research, and today we can sequence thousands of human genomes to identify these genes. However, genes work ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 30, 2026
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49
A paper in Genome Biology and Evolution discovers that the endangered Mediterranean fin whale is not completely isolated from Atlantic groups. Both Atlantic and Mediterranean populations have declined for the past 200,000 ...
Evolution
Apr 28, 2026
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82
