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The Academy's Evolution Site

Biology is one of the most important concepts in biology. The Academies are committed to helping those who are interested in science understand evolution theory and how it can be applied across all areas of scientific research.

This site provides a wide range of resources for teachers, students and general readers of evolution. It includes key video clip from NOVA and WGBH produced science programs on DVD.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is an ancient symbol that represents the interconnectedness of life. It is seen in a variety of spiritual traditions and cultures as symbolizing unity and love. It also has many practical applications, like providing a framework for understanding the history of species and how they react to changing environmental conditions.

Early attempts to describe the world of biology were built on categorizing organisms based on their physical and metabolic characteristics. These methods, which relied on sampling of different parts of living organisms or small fragments of their DNA greatly increased the variety of organisms that could be represented in the tree of life2. However, these trees are largely composed of eukaryotes; bacterial diversity is still largely unrepresented3,4.

Genetic techniques have greatly expanded our ability to represent the Tree of Life by circumventing the requirement for direct observation and experimentation. Trees can be constructed using molecular methods like the small-subunit ribosomal gene.

The Tree of Life has been dramatically expanded through genome sequencing. However there is a lot of biodiversity to be discovered. This is particularly the case for microorganisms which are difficult to cultivate and are usually found in one sample5. A recent analysis of all genomes known to date has created a rough draft of the Tree of Life, including many bacteria and archaea that have not been isolated and whose diversity is poorly understood6.

The expanded Tree of Life can be used to determine the diversity of a specific region and determine if specific habitats require special protection. The information is useful in a variety of ways, such as finding new drugs, fighting diseases and improving crops. This information is also valuable in conservation efforts. It helps biologists determine those areas that are most likely contain cryptic species with potentially important metabolic functions that could be at risk of anthropogenic changes. While funds to protect biodiversity are important, the best method to protect the world's biodiversity is to empower more people in developing countries with the necessary knowledge to act locally and support conservation.

Phylogeny

A phylogeny, also called an evolutionary tree, reveals the relationships between groups of organisms. By using molecular information similarities and differences in morphology or ontogeny (the process of the development of an organism) scientists can create a phylogenetic tree which illustrates the evolutionary relationships between taxonomic categories. The role of phylogeny is crucial in understanding biodiversity, genetics and evolution.

A basic phylogenetic tree (see Figure PageIndex 10 ) determines the relationship between organisms that share similar traits that have evolved from common ancestral. These shared traits could be either homologous or analogous. Homologous traits are similar in terms of their evolutionary journey. Analogous traits may look similar, but they do not share the same origins. Scientists arrange similar traits into a grouping known as a clade. For example, all of the species in a clade share the characteristic of having amniotic eggs. They evolved from a common ancestor who had eggs. A phylogenetic tree can be constructed by connecting clades to identify the species who are the closest to one another.

Scientists make use of molecular DNA or RNA data to build a phylogenetic chart which is more precise and detailed. This information is more precise and provides evidence of the evolution of an organism. Molecular data allows researchers to determine the number of organisms who share the same ancestor and estimate their evolutionary age.

Phylogenetic relationships can be affected by a variety of factors such as the phenomenon of phenotypicplasticity. This is a kind of behaviour that can change due to particular environmental conditions. This can cause a trait to appear more similar to one species than another and obscure the phylogenetic signals. However, this issue can be solved through the use of techniques such as cladistics which incorporate a combination of similar and homologous traits into the tree.

Additionally, phylogenetics can help predict the time and pace of speciation. This information can aid conservation biologists in deciding which species to protect from extinction. In the end, it's the preservation of phylogenetic diversity that will create an ecologically balanced and complete ecosystem.

Evolutionary Theory

The fundamental concept of evolution is that organisms develop different features over time as a result of their interactions with their environment. A variety of theories about evolution have been developed by a variety of scientists such as the Islamic naturalist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274) who believed that an organism would evolve slowly in accordance with its requirements as well as the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) who conceived modern hierarchical taxonomy, and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) who suggested that the use or misuse of traits can cause changes that can be passed on to offspring.

In the 1930s and 1940s, ideas from a variety of fields -- including genetics, natural selection, and particulate inheritance--came together to form the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory, which defines how evolution occurs through the variation of genes within a population, 에볼루션 슬롯게임사이트 - Ivnanews.ir, and how these variants change over time as a result of natural selection. This model, which includes genetic drift, mutations in gene flow, and sexual selection can be mathematically described.

Recent discoveries in the field of evolutionary developmental biology have revealed that genetic variation can be introduced into a species by mutation, genetic drift, and reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction, and also by migration between populations. These processes, along with others like directional selection and genetic erosion (changes in the frequency of the genotype over time), can lead to evolution that is defined as changes in the genome of the species over time and also by changes in phenotype as time passes (the expression of that genotype in the individual).

Students can gain a better understanding of the concept of phylogeny through incorporating evolutionary thinking in all areas of biology. A recent study conducted by Grunspan and colleagues, for instance, showed that teaching about the evidence supporting evolution increased students' understanding of evolution in a college-level biology course. For more details about how to teach evolution read The Evolutionary Potency in All Areas of Biology or Thinking Evolutionarily as a Framework for Infusing Evolution into Life Sciences Education.

Evolution in Action

Traditionally scientists have studied evolution by looking back--analyzing fossils, comparing species and observing living organisms. Evolution is not a distant event; it is a process that continues today. Bacteria transform and resist antibiotics, viruses reinvent themselves and 바카라 에볼루션 elude new medications and animals change their behavior to a changing planet. The changes that result are often visible.

It wasn't until the late 1980s when biologists began to realize that natural selection was at work. The key to this is that different traits confer an individual rate of survival and reproduction, and they can be passed on from one generation to the next.

In the past, if a certain allele - the genetic sequence that determines colour - was present in a population of organisms that interbred, it might become more prevalent than any other allele. In time, this could mean that the number of moths that have black pigmentation may increase. The same is true for many other characteristics--including morphology and behavior--that vary among populations of organisms.

Monitoring evolutionary changes in action is easier when a species has a rapid generation turnover like bacteria. Since 1988, Richard Lenski, a biologist, has tracked twelve populations of E.coli that are descended from one strain. Samples from each population have been taken regularly and more than 500.000 generations of E.coli have passed.

Lenski's work has demonstrated that a mutation can dramatically alter the efficiency with which a population reproduces and, consequently, the rate at which it evolves. It also shows evolution takes time, a fact that is difficult for some to accept.

Another example of microevolution is how mosquito genes for resistance to pesticides are more prevalent in populations where insecticides are used. This is due to the fact that the use of pesticides creates a pressure that favors people with resistant genotypes.

The speed at which evolution can take place has led to a growing awareness of its significance in a world that is shaped by human activity, including climate change, pollution, and 에볼루션 the loss of habitats that hinder the species from adapting. Understanding evolution can aid you in making better decisions about the future of the planet and its inhabitants.