Charles Darwin, for all his brilliance, was perhaps paralyzed by insecurity. There are not many other explanations for why he delayed publishing his seminal work, "On the Origin of Species by Means…

Evolution has endowed females of certain species of amphibians, reptiles and fish with the ability to clone themselves and perpetuate offspring without males. It has even happened more recently but…

Genetic modification of maize over the last century has led to desirable shoot characteristics and increased yield - and that likely contributed to the evolution of root systems that are more…

For being a fellow of above average height (6'2" now - age will do that) traveling to Holland can be a strange experience. It seems like everyone is around my height. The men are tall, the women are…

Life has adapted to all sorts of extreme environments on Earth, among them, animals like the deer mouse, shimmying and shivering about, and having to squeeze enough energy from the cold, thin air to…

An evolutionary puzzle has baffled palaeontologists for more than 180 years - the origins of Toxodon platensis and Macrauchenia patachonica, South American ungulates (hooved animals) described by…

Science 2.0, a new methodology for collaboration, communication, publication and participation, has tackled the evolution of an important protein and discovered its connection in human history, as…

Most animals have a dorso-ventral (back-to-belly) body axis which determines the position of the central nervous system - dorsal in humans, ventral in insects. Though there are obviously…

Humans, worms and flies are all completely different organisms and yet we have a more or less common set of genes. Given that similar DNA blueprint, how do species develop such vast differences…

How does a mother transition genetic control to offspring early in development? It's part of a larger mystery regarding how embryos regulate cell division and differentiation into new…