A Rowan University team led by Chun Wu, Ph.D., received the Zuckerkandl Prize for the year’s best paper published in the ...

Molecular evolution investigates the processes that drive changes in genetic material over time. It encompasses the generation of mutations—whether through DNA replication errors, damage or other ...

ANN ARBOR—For a long time, evolutionary biologists have thought that the genetic mutations that drive the evolution of genes and proteins are largely neutral: they're neither good nor bad, but just ...

The molecular clock theory posits that genetic changes happen steadily and gradually, offering a reliable means for peering into the past and theorizing when complex life first emerged. However, there ...

A major evolutionary theory says most genetic changes don’t really matter, but new evidence suggests that’s not true. Researchers found that helpful mutations happen surprisingly often. The twist is ...

Plant science research has increasingly shifted focus toward understanding the complex mechanisms that enable crops to withstand abiotic stresses such as ...

A paper in Molecular Biology and Evolution finds that the relatively high rate of autism-spectrum disorders in humans is likely due to how humans evolved in the past. The paper is titled "A general ...

Medicinal plants produce a wide range of bioactive compounds, yet the genetic and evolutionary mechanisms underlying their ...

Biology is full of molecular machines, such as motor proteins and ATP synthase, that operate self-sufficiently through cycles of oxidation and reduction. A team of human chemists at the University of ...

Cancer research continues to evolve as scientists strive to unravel the complexities of tumor biology, molecular signaling, and metabolic adaptations.

Phylogenetics and molecular evolution lie at the heart of understanding the origins and diversification of life. By constructing phylogenetic trees, scientists map the evolutionary relationships ...