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Illustration of a miniature landscape with many peaks, and with small creatures of different forms standing on those peaks. Scientists in lab coats watch the creatures.
evolution

Evolving Bacteria Can Evade Barriers to ‘Peak’ Fitness

By Veronique Greenwood
November 28, 2023
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Paradoxically, natural selection can sometimes seem to block organisms from evolving useful adaptations. But a new study of “fitness landscapes” and antibiotic resistance in bacteria shows that life still finds a way.

Q&A

Andreas Wagner Pursues the Secrets to Evolutionary Success

By Veronique Greenwood
August 15, 2023
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Why did mammals, grasses and some other groups of organisms explode in diversity only after millions of years? The evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner plumbs the secrets of those “sleeping beauties.”

Illustration of a bacterial cell in mid-fission. Its threads of DNA and other internal molecules are divided between the cells. A constriction on the midline marks where the daughter cells are splitting.
evolution

Even Synthetic Life Forms With a Tiny Genome Can Evolve

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
August 9, 2023
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By watching “minimal” cells regain the fitness they lost, researchers are testing whether a genome can be too simple to evolve.

The Joy of Why

What Has the Pandemic Taught Us About Vaccines?

By Steven Strogatz
April 5, 2023
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Should Covid-19 vaccines be judged by how well they prevent disease or how well they prevent death? Anna Durbin, a public health expert and vaccine researcher, talks with Steven Strogatz about the science behind vaccines.

microbiome

Global Microbiome Study Gives New View of Shared Health Risks

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
March 14, 2023
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The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about the risks of developing some diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious.

Illustration of a mother holding an infant, with strands of DNA running between the bacteria inside them.
microbiome

Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
January 17, 2023
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Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant’s bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.

A detailed scan of a zebra fish as seen from above.
developmental biology

The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain

By Joanna Thompson
November 15, 2022
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New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brain’s social development.

microbiology

Ocean Bacteria Reveal an Unexpected Multicellular Form

By Carrie Arnold
November 2, 2022
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Marine bacteria normally seen as single cells join together as a “microscopic snow globe” to consume bulky floating carbohydrates.

A snake and two frogs staring at one another across a rock.
genomics

How Genes Can Leap From Snakes to Frogs in Madagascar

By Veronique Greenwood
October 27, 2022
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The discovery of a hot spot for horizontal gene transfer draws attention to the possible roles of parasites and ecology in such changes.


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