The Academy's Evolution Site

The concept of biological evolution is a fundamental concept in biology. The Academies have been active for a long time in helping people who are interested in science understand the concept of evolution and how it influences every area of scientific inquiry.

This site provides students, teachers and general readers with a wide range of learning resources about evolution. It contains key video clips from NOVA and WGBH produced science programs on DVD.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life, an ancient symbol, represents the interconnectedness of all life. It is a symbol of love and unity in many cultures. It has many practical applications in addition to providing a framework to understand the history of species, and how they respond to changes in environmental conditions.

The first attempts at depicting the biological world focused on categorizing organisms into distinct categories that had been distinguished by their physical and metabolic characteristics1. These methods are based on the sampling of different parts of organisms or short fragments of DNA, have greatly increased the diversity of a Tree of Life2. These trees are mostly populated by eukaryotes, and the diversity of bacterial species is greatly underrepresented3,4.

By avoiding the need for direct experimentation and observation, genetic techniques have allowed us to represent the Tree of Life in a more precise manner. Particularly, molecular techniques enable us to create trees using sequenced markers, such as the small subunit of ribosomal RNA gene.

Despite the massive growth of the Tree of Life through genome sequencing, a lot of biodiversity remains to be discovered. This is particularly true for microorganisms, which can be difficult to cultivate and are typically only represented in a single specimen5. A recent study of all known genomes has produced a rough draft version of the Tree of Life, including a large number of bacteria and archaea that have not been isolated and their diversity is not fully understood6.

The expanded Tree of Life can be used to assess the biodiversity of a specific area and determine if certain habitats need special protection. The information can be used in a range of ways, from identifying new treatments to fight disease to enhancing the quality of crops. This information is also extremely beneficial for conservation efforts. It can aid biologists in identifying areas most likely to be home to cryptic species, which may have important metabolic functions and be vulnerable to the effects of human activity. While funds to protect biodiversity are essential, the best method to preserve the world's biodiversity is to equip more people in developing nations with the knowledge they need to take action locally and encourage conservation.

Phylogeny

A phylogeny, also called an evolutionary tree, reveals the relationships between various groups of organisms. Scientists can build a phylogenetic diagram that illustrates the evolution of taxonomic groups using molecular data and morphological differences or similarities. The phylogeny of a tree plays an important role in understanding the relationshhat will lead to an ecosystem that is complete and balanced.

Evolutionary Theory

The main idea behind evolution is that organisms develop various characteristics over time due to their interactions with their environment. Many theories of evolution have been proposed by a wide range of scientists including the Islamic naturalist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274) who envisioned an organism developing gradually according to its needs and needs, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) who conceived the modern hierarchical taxonomy, as well as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) who suggested that the use or misuse of traits can cause changes that could be passed on to offspring.

In the 1930s and 1940s, ideas from a variety of fields -- including natural selection, genetics, and particulate inheritance--came together to create the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory that explains how evolution is triggered by the variation of genes within a population and how those variations change over time due to natural selection. This model, called genetic drift, mutation, 에볼루션카지노사이트 (Https://Telegra.Ph/14-Companies-Doing-An-Excellent-Job-At-Evolution-Slot-12-25) gene flow and sexual selection, is a cornerstone of the current evolutionary biology and can be mathematically explained.

Recent developments in the field of evolutionary developmental biology have revealed the ways in which variation can be introduced to a species by genetic drift, mutations and reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction, 에볼루션 바카라 무료체험 코리아 (Historydb blog article) and even migration between populations. These processes, along with others such as directional selection or genetic erosion (changes in the frequency of the genotype over time) can lead to evolution that is defined as changes in the genome of the species over time, and also the change in phenotype as time passes (the expression of the genotype in an individual).

Incorporating evolutionary thinking into all aspects of biology education can improve student understanding of the concepts of phylogeny and evolutionary. A recent study conducted by Grunspan and colleagues, for instance, showed that teaching about the evidence for evolution increased students' understanding of evolution in a college biology course. For more information on how to teach about evolution read The Evolutionary Potency in all Areas of Biology or Thinking Evolutionarily as a Framework for Infusing Evolution into Life Sciences Education.

Evolution in Action

Scientists have traditionally studied evolution by looking in the past, analyzing fossils and comparing species. They also observe living organisms. But evolution isn't just something that happened in the past. It's an ongoing process, that is taking place in the present. Bacteria evolve and resist antibiotics, viruses reinvent themselves and escape new drugs and animals alter their behavior in response to a changing planet. The changes that result are often easy to see.

It wasn't until the 1980s when biologists began to realize that natural selection was in action. The key to this is that different traits result in a different rate of survival and reproduction, and can be passed down from one generation to the next.

In the past, if one particular allele, the genetic sequence that determines coloration--appeared in a population of interbreeding organisms, it could quickly become more common than all other alleles. As time passes, that could mean the number of black moths within a population could increase. The same is true for many other characteristics--including morphology and behavior--that vary among populations of organisms.

Observing evolutionary change in action is easier when a species has a rapid generation turnover such as bacteria. Since 1988 the biologist Richard Lenski has been tracking twelve populations of E. Coli that descended from a single strain; samples of each population are taken every day, 에볼루션코리아 and over fifty thousand generations have passed.

Lenski's research has shown that mutations can drastically alter the efficiency with which a population reproduces and, consequently, the rate at which it evolves. It also shows that evolution takes time--a fact that many find difficult to accept.

Another example of microevolution is that mosquito genes that confer resistance to pesticides appear more frequently in areas where insecticides are employed. This is due to pesticides causing an enticement that favors individuals who have resistant genotypes.

The rapid pace at which evolution can take place has led to an increasing awareness of its significance in a world that is shaped by human activity, including climate change, pollution, and the loss of habitats that prevent many species from adapting. Understanding the evolution process can help us make smarter choices about the future of our planet as well as the lives of its inhabitants.