When the world slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, its effects extended beyond humans. A recent study found that it reshaped urban ecosystems to such an extent that certain city-dwelling birds ...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have created an RNA molecule that can not just replicate, but “evolve” into a diverse range of more complex molecules. This find could plug a major gap in the ...

The DNA mutations that drive evolution are generally thought to be fairly random, but a new study suggests there’s some order to the chaos. Comparing the genomes of hundreds of plants grown in a lab, ...

Why does natural selection appear to happen slowly on long timescales and quickly on short ones? A multigenerational study of four lizard species addresses biology’s “paradox of stasis.” James Stroud ...

Erik Svensson receives funding from from the Swedish Research Council (VR; grant no. 2020-03123). How will life on Earth and the ecosystems that support it adapt to climate change? Which species will ...

A new platform combines rational protein design with continuous evolution to discover functional molecules more efficiently. In medicine and biotechnology, the ability to evolve proteins with new or ...