Which population structures maximize evolutionary fitness?

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Plön have shown that population structures that enhance the effect of selection do not necessarily also lead to higher fitness. Instead, it is crucial for maximizing fitness that ...

Using artificial intelligence to improve tuberculosis treatments

Imagine you have 20 new compounds that have shown some effectiveness in treating a disease like tuberculosis (TB), which affects 10 million people worldwide and kills 1.5 million each year. For effective treatment, patients ...

Did our ancestors have better microbiomes? For maize, maybe!

At today's backyard barbeques, we enjoy corn on the cob with hundreds of sweet juicy kernels. But if we were eating teosinte, the wild ancestor of corn, we would be lucky to enjoy a dozen kernels per ear. In fact, many of ...

Plant study hints evolution may be predictable

Evolution has long been viewed as a rather random process, with the traits of species shaped by chance mutations and environmental events—and therefore largely unpredictable.

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