Scientists showed that fixed mutations within a viral population most likely stem from how easy it is to acquire that mutation (i.e., mutation accessibility) rather than just its benefit. The ...

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 ordinary ...

Scientists from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have identified novel mutations in bacteria that promote the evolution of high-level antibiotic resistance. The ...

In a recent study published in Nature Genetics, researchers performed an allelic-level single-cellular multi-omics evaluation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) obtained from individuals ...

Genes are short sections of DNA that determine an animal’s traits—everything from coat color and claw strength to body shape ...

A groundbreaking study published in this week’s issue of PNAS by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not randomly but more ...

A study published in Nature Medicine found that monkeypox viruses from the current outbreak have on average 50 differences in their DNA compared to the versions from about four years earlier. That’s ...

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 ...

(Memphis, Tenn.—July 28, 2023) The influenza (flu) virus is constantly undergoing a process of evolution and adaptation through acquiring new mutations. Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research ...