Evolution

Barcelona, Spain — The spinal column is the central supporting structure of the skeleton in all vertebrates. Not only does it provide a place for muscles to attach, it also protects the spinal cord and nerve roots. Defects in its development are known to cause rare hereditary diseases. Researchers from the Ebisuya Group at EMBL Barcelona have […]

State College, PA — New mutations occur at increasing rates in the mitochondrial genomes of developing egg cells in ageing rhesus monkeys, but the increases appear to plateau at a certain age and are not as large as those seen in non-reproductive cells, like muscle and liver. A new study using incredibly accurate DNA sequencing […]

Tokyo, Japan — Researchers at the University of Tokyo have for the first time been able to create an RNA molecule that replicates, diversifies and develops complexity, following Darwinian evolution. This has provided the first empirical evidence that simple biological molecules can lead to the emergence of complex lifelike systems.   Life has many big questions, […]

Tokyo, Japan — The molecular evolution of placental protein NRK and its function in regulating placental growth has finally been clarified by researchers from Tokyo Tech. They elucidated that eutherian NRK regulates placental development by a novel mechanism, modulating the CK2-PTEN-AKT pathway. They also determined that this new function was acquired due to the amazingly […]

Bristol, UK — Parents face a trade-off between putting resources into their offspring versus using resources to enhance their chances of survival so they can have more offspring. The best allocation of resources depends on age. More experienced parents are better at getting food, so they can pass on more to their offspring. However, resources […]

Cambridge, MA — The microbes that live inside our mouths, collectively known as the oral microbiome, impact our overall health in many ways that are not yet fully understood. Some bacteria cause inflammation, leading to periodontitis and other systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Other oral organisms have been associated with certain types […]

Chicago, IL — All vertebrates have the same basic body plan: head, spine, four appendages. Those appendages vary greatly in size, shape, and function, of course — from fins to wings, arms, and legs — but a new genetic analysis shows that genes that control development at the ends of the appendages share a deep […]

Cambridge, MA — Fossils trapped in amber provide a unique snapshot of the anatomy, biology, and ecology of extinct organisms. The most common fossils found in amber, which is formed from resin exuded from tree bark, are land-dwelling animals, mainly insects. But on very rare occasions scientists discover amber housing an aquatic organism. In a […]

Durham, NC – Sixty-three percent. That’s the proportion of mammal species that vanished from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula around 30 million years ago, after Earth’s climate shifted from swampy to icy. But we are only finding out about it now. Compiling decades of work, a new study published this week in the journal Communications […]

Boston, MA — More than 3,000 regions in the human genome are very different in people from in any other mammals, including our closest primate relatives. Now, a study reported in the journal Neuron on September 2 has evidence to confirm that nearly half of these so-called human accelerated regions (HARs) have played an important role in […]

Gainesville, FL — Plants are DNA hoarders. Adhering to the maxim of never throwing anything out that might be useful later, they often duplicate their entire genome and hang on to the added genetic baggage. All those extra genes are then free to mutate and produce new physical traits, hastening the tempo of evolution. A […]

Hong Kong, China — Humans can easily identify sweet-tasting foods – and with pleasure. However, many carnivorous animals lack this ability, and whether birds, descendants of meat-eating dinosaurs, can taste sweet was previously unclear. An international team of researchers led by Max Planck Institute for Ornithology including Dr. Simon SIN from Research Division for Ecology […]