The study of experimental evolution in Escherichia coli has provided unprecedented insights into the mechanisms of adaptive mutations, elucidating how populations diverge and optimise their fitness ...

A major evolutionary theory says most genetic changes don’t really matter, but new evidence suggests that’s not true. Researchers found that helpful mutations happen surprisingly often. The twist is ...

In real life, mutants can arise when their DNA changes to give them an advantage over the rest of the population. A team from ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Andréa Morris reports on emergent intelligence in diverse systems. “Where are all the genetic cures?” asks Denis Noble, a ...

A groundbreaking study published in this week’s issue of PNAS by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more ...

Researchers published a new study, “Ongoing chromothripsis underpins osteosarcoma genome complexity and clonal evolution,” in Cell that they say solves the mystery of what drives the genomic ...

Mitochondria are known as the body’s “energy factories,” and their function is essential for life. Inside mitochondria, a set of complexes called the oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) system ...

CRISPR will get easier and easier to administer. What does that mean for the future of our species? In 2016, I attended a large meeting of journalists in Washington, DC. The keynote speaker was ...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended that everyone 6 months and older get an updated vaccination this fall against COVID-19 that is formulated to combat the most ...

Some fungi live up to 2,500 years thanks to an internal system that eliminates harmful cells and prevents genetic mutations.