Is Technology Making Evolution Site Better Or Worse?

The Academy's Evolution Site

Biological evolution is a central concept in biology. The Academies have been active for a long time in helping people who are interested in science comprehend the theory of evolution and how it permeates all areas of scientific research.

This site offers a variety of tools for teachers, students as well as general readers about evolution. It also includes important video clips from NOVA and WGBH produced science programs on DVD.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life is an ancient symbol that symbolizes the interconnectedness of all life. It appears in many religions and cultures as a symbol of unity and love. It also has many practical applications, like providing a framework for understanding the history of species and how they react to changes in environmental conditions.

Early attempts to describe the biological world were based on categorizing organisms based on their metabolic and physical characteristics. These methods, which relied on the sampling of various parts of living organisms or sequences of short fragments of their DNA, greatly increased the variety of organisms that could be included in the tree of life2. These trees are largely composed by eukaryotes, and bacterial diversity is vastly underrepresented3,4.

By avoiding the necessity for direct experimentation and observation, genetic techniques have made it possible to represent the Tree of Life in a more precise way. In particular, molecular methods enable us to create trees using sequenced markers, such as the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene.

The Tree of Life has been dramatically expanded through genome sequencing. However there is a lot of diversity to be discovered. This is particularly true for microorganisms, which can be difficult to cultivate and are usually only present in a single sample5. A recent study of all known genomes has created a rough draft of the Tree of Life, including numerous bacteria and archaea that have not been isolated, and whose diversity is poorly understood6.

The expanded Tree of Life can be used to evaluate the biodiversity of a specific region and determine if certain habitats require special protection. This information can be utilized in a variety of ways, including identifying new drugs, combating diseases and improving the quality of crops. This information is also valuable to conservation efforts. It can help biologists identify areas that are most likely to have cryptic species, which could have important metabolic functions, and could be susceptible to changes caused by humans. While funds to protect biodiversity are important, the best method to preserve the world's biodiversity is to empower the people of developing nations with the knowledge they need to act locally and promote conservation.

Phylogeny

A phylogeny (also called an evolutionary tree) depicts the relationships between organisms. By using molecular information similarities and differences in morphology, or ontogeny (the process of the development of an organism), scientists can build a phylogenetic tree that illustrates the evolution of taxonomic groups. The concept of phylogeny is fundamental to understanding evolution, biodiversity and genetics.

A basic phylogenetic tree (see Figure PageIndex 10 ) identifies the relationships between organisms with similar traits that evolved from common ancestors. These shared traits can be either analogous or homologous.  click through the up coming website  are identical in their evolutionary paths. Analogous traits could appear similar however they do not share the same origins. Scientists arrange similar traits into a grouping referred to as a the clade. All organisms in a group have a common characteristic, for example, amniotic egg production. They all came from an ancestor with these eggs. A phylogenetic tree is then constructed by connecting the clades to identify the organisms which are the closest to one another.

For a more precise and precise phylogenetic tree scientists rely on molecular information from DNA or RNA to establish the relationships between organisms. This information is more precise than morphological information and provides evidence of the evolution background of an organism or group. The use of molecular data lets researchers identify the number of organisms that have an ancestor common to them and estimate their evolutionary age.

The phylogenetic relationships between species can be influenced by several factors, including phenotypic plasticity a type of behavior that changes in response to unique environmental conditions. This can cause a trait to appear more similar to one species than another and obscure the phylogenetic signals. However, this problem can be solved through the use of methods such as cladistics that incorporate a combination of homologous and analogous features into the tree.

Additionally, phylogenetics can help determine the duration and speed at which speciation occurs. This information will assist conservation biologists in making decisions about which species to protect from extinction. In the end, it's the preservation of phylogenetic diversity that will lead to an ecosystem that is balanced and complete.

Evolutionary Theory

The main idea behind evolution is that organisms alter over time because of their interactions with their environment. Many scientists have proposed theories of evolution, including the Islamic naturalist Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-274), who believed that an organism would develop according to its own needs as well as the Swedish taxonomist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) who conceived the modern taxonomy system that is hierarchical, as well as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1844-1829), who believed that the usage or non-use of traits can lead to changes that are passed on to the next generation.

In the 1930s & 1940s, concepts from various areas, including natural selection, genetics & particulate inheritance, merged to form a contemporary synthesis of evolution theory. This describes how evolution is triggered by the variation in genes within the population, and how these variations change with time due to natural selection. This model, which incorporates mutations, genetic drift in gene flow, and sexual selection, can be mathematically described.

Recent developments in the field of evolutionary developmental biology have revealed that variations can be introduced into a species by genetic drift, mutation, and reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction, as well as through the movement of populations. These processes, as well as other ones like the directional selection process and the erosion of genes (changes to the frequency of genotypes over time), can lead towards evolution. Evolution is defined by changes in the genome over time and changes in phenotype (the expression of genotypes in individuals).

Students can gain a better understanding of the concept of phylogeny through incorporating evolutionary thinking in all aspects of biology. A recent study by Grunspan and colleagues, for instance revealed that teaching students about the evidence supporting evolution increased students' understanding of evolution in a college biology course. To find out more about how to teach about evolution, see The Evolutionary Potential in all Areas of Biology and Thinking Evolutionarily: A Framework for Infusing Evolution in Life Sciences Education.

Evolution in Action

Scientists have studied evolution through looking back in the past--analyzing fossils and comparing species. They also study living organisms. Evolution isn't a flims event; it is an ongoing process. Bacteria transform and resist antibiotics, viruses re-invent themselves and elude new medications and animals change their behavior to the changing climate. The resulting changes are often easy to see.

But it wasn't until the late 1980s that biologists understood that natural selection can be seen in action, as well. The key is that different characteristics result in different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness), and can be passed down from one generation to the next.

In the past, if one allele - the genetic sequence that determines colour was present in a population of organisms that interbred, it could be more common than any other allele. In time, this could mean that the number of moths with black pigmentation could 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 particular species has a rapid generation turnover such as bacteria. Since 1988, Richard Lenski, a biologist, has studied twelve populations of E.coli that are descended from one strain. Samples from each population have been collected regularly, and more than 500.000 generations of E.coli have passed.

Lenski's work has demonstrated that mutations can drastically alter the rate at the rate at which a population reproduces, and consequently, the rate at which it changes. It also shows that evolution takes time, a fact that is hard for some to accept.

Another example of microevolution is how mosquito genes that confer resistance to pesticides show up more often in areas in which insecticides are utilized. That's because the use of pesticides creates a selective pressure that favors individuals 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 activities, including climate change, pollution and the loss of habitats that hinder the species from adapting. Understanding the evolution process will assist you in making better choices about the future of the planet and its inhabitants.