Tag: evolution

Scientists find the oldest fossil of a multicellular animal and solve a 350 year old puzzle in the growth of both animals and plants alike

Christian Twiste1 Comment

Meet Bicellum brasieri, a tiny, spherical animal measuring barely a thousandth of an inch discovered in the highlands of Scotland.  Bicellum lived a billion years ago, yet remains a critical precursor for all animal life still to come, including ourselves.  Fast forward a billion years, and scientists have also discovered the rules that govern the… Continue reading Scientists find the oldest fossil of a multicellular animal and solve a 350 year old puzzle in the growth of both animals and plants alike

You have the eye of a fish and the DNA of a Neanderthal, but what are you doing with that big brain?

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It’s been a huge couple of weeks in evolutionary biology:  Three teams of scientists, studying three separate periods spanning 450 million years make surprising discoveries about our bodies, our culture, and our ancestors. The human eye is an amazing organ, the origins of which are ancient and shrouded in mystery.  Complex eyes, from people to… Continue reading You have the eye of a fish and the DNA of a Neanderthal, but what are you doing with that big brain?

Designing self-replicating cells one gene at a time and solving the mystery of the origins of life

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Meet JCVI-syn3A, the world’s first self-reproducing synthetic organism.  This tiny little microbe was designed by trial and error in a lab and is capable of both maintaining its own internal structure and creating copies of itself, just like a real cell.  The implications for medicine and our understanding of ourselves are, needless to say, enormous.… Continue reading Designing self-replicating cells one gene at a time and solving the mystery of the origins of life

The Origin of Humanity: One Gene, Two Days, a Three Times Larger Brain Than Our Cousins

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A groundbreaking new study demonstrates that a change to a single gene results in humans having three times bigger brains than our closest cousins, the great apes.  How evolution preserves and repurposes information in limitless ways, creating the incredible variety of life from small, measurable changes. The human brain is the most complex object in… Continue reading The Origin of Humanity: One Gene, Two Days, a Three Times Larger Brain Than Our Cousins