Scientists have uncovered an unexpected genetic shift that may explain how animals with backbones first emerged and became so diverse.

New research from the University of St Andrews has discovered a crucial piece in the puzzle of how all animals with a ...

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these ...

Artificial intelligence allows tracing the evolution of genetic control elements in the developing mammalian cerebellum. An ...

Learn how increased protein diversity in signaling genes may have helped drive the shift from invertebrates to vertebrates, ...

Ferns, defined by large genomes, high chromosome counts, and pervasive aneuploidy as well as intraspecific polyploid ...

Duplicated genes that appear in every branch of the tree of life can provide us with insight into the evolution that occurred ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Andréa Morris reports on emergent intelligence in diverse systems. “Where are all the genetic cures?” asks Denis Noble, a ...

Early in development, many animals pick a team—male or female—based on their genetics, and, with time, acquire the ...

De novo gene evolution describes the process by which entirely new genes originate from previously non-coding DNA rather than from the duplication and divergence of existing genetic material. This ...

From epic poetry to game shows, from Stone Age axes to spaceflight, humans have the most complex cultures of any species on Earth. Since the time of Darwin, scientists have suspected that this culture ...