Category: Evolution
-
Chimpanzees and Us: How Genetic Evidence Reveals Shared Ancestry
We share common ancestry with chimpanzees. And the shared ancestry becomes not only obvious in the anatomy but also in the DNA level. Today, let’s set out on a journey to explore the connection with our closest relatives. In our search for proof of an ancestral link with our fellow cousins, the chimpanzees, let’s methodically…
-
Botanists Uncover Genetic Basis for Color Evolution in Monkeyflowers
Monkeyflowers are a type of plant that comes in a variety of colors, ranging from yellow to pink to deep red-orange. However, some species of monkeyflowers lost their yellow pigment about 5 million years ago. In a recent study published in the scientific journal Science, researchers from the University of Connecticut explain the genetic changes…
-
Gene for Gene vs. Matching Allele (and their variations)
Understanding the host-symbiont relationship has many facets. Often we borrow ideas from host-parasite interaction literature of co-evolution. You can think of host-parasite interaction as a continuous war between two parties where one party is always trying new ways to abuse the ‘host’. On the other hand, the host needs to upgrade itself against those new…