The movement of genetic material between organisms that aren't directly related is a significant driver of evolution, especially among single-celled organisms like bacteria and archaea. A team led by ...

Directed evolution is a laboratory method that speeds up protein mutations to help create novel cancer and neurodegenerative disorder therapies. In a new study, scientists detail a method called ...

An international study investigating the genomic diversity of the Sudanese population reveals that the Copts originating in Egypt—who settled in the country between the seventh and eleventh ...

Why does natural selection appear to happen slowly on long timescales and quickly on short ones? A multigenerational study of four lizard species addresses biology’s “paradox of stasis.” James Stroud ...

An ancient lineage of cyanobacteria is helping biologists uncover an early evolutionary stage of the mind-boggling process ...

This week, we continue our look at evolutionary theories of the origin of life and the extreme challenges they face. One of the major hurdles concerns the amount of time ...

When Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution in the mid-19th century, he figured this fundamental process took place very slowly over geological timescales, taking millions of years. But is ...