Posts Tagged ‘evolution’

Authors: Graham Peers, Thuy B. Truong, Elisabeth Ostendorf, Andreas Busch, Dafna Elrad, Arthur R. Grossman, Michael Hippler & Krishna K. Niyogi Light is necessary for photosynthesis, but its absorption by pigment molecules such as chlorophyll can cause severe oxidative damage and result in cell death. The excess absorption of light energy by photosynthetic pigments has led to the evolution of protective mechanisms that operate on the ... Full story

Researchers have long been puzzled by large societies in which strangers routinely engage in voluntary acts of kindness, respect and mutual benefit even though there is often an individual cost involved. While evolutionary forces associated with kinship and reciprocity can explain such cooperative behavior among other primates, these forces do not easily explain similar behavior in large, unrelated groups, like those that most humans live ... Full story

In a paradigm changing discovery, Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria has been identified in a population historically thought to be resistant to the disease, those who do not express the Duffy blood group protein on their red blood cells, according to researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Pasteur Institute, and the Madagascar Ministry of Health... ... Full story

Understanding how past climate may have influenced human evolution could be dramatically enhanced by an international cross-disciplinary research program to improve the sparse human fossil and incomplete climate records and examine the link between the two, says a new report from the National Research Council. Climate and fossil records suggest that some events in human evolution -- such as the evolution of new species ... Full story

The team observed viruses as they evolved over hundreds of generations to infect bacteria. They found that when the bacteria could evolve defences, the viruses evolved at a quicker rate and generated greater diversity, compared to situations where the bacteria were unable to adapt to the viral infection. The study shows, for the first time, that the American evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen was correct ... Full story

Michigan State University has announced that it was awarded a $25 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish a center, bringing together scientists from across the nation to study evolution in action in both natural and virtual settings. MSU has been awarded one of five highly coveted NSF Science and Technology Centers, officially titled "BEACON, an NSF Science and Technology Center for the ... Full story

Authors: Hubertus J. E. Beaumont, Jenna Gallie, Christian Kost, Gayle C. Ferguson & Paul B. Rainey Bet hedging—stochastic switching between phenotypic states—is a canonical example of an evolutionary adaptation that facilitates persistence in the face of fluctuating environmental conditions. Although bet hedging is found in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans, direct evidence for an adaptive origin of this behaviour is lacking. Here we report the ... Full story

Over three decades, a world-recognized medical team at UC San Diego Medical Center has spurred the evolution of a complex surgery to destroy dangerous clusters of arteries and veins in the brain. Integrating innovative approaches in radiology, anesthesia, and surgery, the team has perfected a method to systematically starve these abnormal brain lesions, artery by artery, vein by vein. "In the late 70s and ... Full story

Genes that don't themselves directly affect the inherited characteristics of an organism but leave them increasingly open to variation may be a significant driving force of evolution, say two Johns Hopkins scientists. Their proposed amended view of evolution is based on observations of genetic patterns outside of a cell's DNA and may better explain how organisms, including people, have adapted over hundreds of thousands of ... Full story

Many drug companies desperately do not want revealed to the public that over-the-counter hemorrhoid treatments may worsen problems and cause skin damage. "Steroid creams in particular may cause permanent damage or ulceration of perianal skin," states Laurie Barclay, MD, and Charles Vega, MD in their medical study published in the February 16, 2008 issue of BMJ... ... Full story