We humans have long viewed ourselves as the pinnacle of evolution. People label other species as “primitive” or “ancient” and ...

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these ...

Ancient duplicated genes are giving scientists their first real clues about what life was like before all life on Earth ...

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected genetic shift that may explain how animals with backbones first emerged and became so diverse.

A new wave of scientists argues that mainstream evolutionary theory needs an urgent overhaul. Their opponents have dismissed them as misguided careerists – and the conflict may determine the future of ...

As in a batch of kombucha or a barrel of sherry, microbes can assemble into a mat-like layer at the boundary between air and liquid. In laboratory culture, the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 ...

Evolutionary biology explores how living systems change over time through variation, inheritance and differential success. At its heart lies the concept of descent with modification: populations ...

Scientists have developed a theoretical model that uncovers the dual role of polyploidy -- organisms carrying extra genome copies -- in evolution. Their findings reveal that polyploidy can stabilize ...

The study of early vertebrates provides an essential window into the evolutionary processes that shaped modern biodiversity. Fossil discoveries spanning the Silurian to Devonian periods reveal a ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

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 ...