Friday, December 23, 2005
Science: 2005 a Banner Year for Evolution Breakthroughs
When the editors at Science looked back over the research reported in 2005, they decided that several high-impact discoveries made evolution stand out as the Breakthrough of the Year. Among the research highlighted is work by David Kingsley, PhD, professor of developmental biology at Stanford University School of Medicine, who studies the evolutionary process in a diverse group of fish called the stickleback, according to a news release from the Stanford University Medical Center.
In a roundup of breakthroughs to be published in the journal's Dec. 23 issue, Science points out that evolution is the underpinning of all biological research. "Today evolution is the foundation of all biology, so basic and all-pervasive that scientists sometimes take its importance for granted," the editors wrote.
Kingsley's highlighted work was published in the March 25 issue of Science, when he reported finding that 15 isolated freshwater stickleback populations all lost their bony armor through mutations in the same gene. This was among the first times that scientists had shown the same genetic change was responsible for an evolutionary adaptation in disparate populations.
"Our work shows that even major morphological changes are controlled by relatively simple mechanisms," Kingsley said.
In a roundup of breakthroughs to be published in the journal's Dec. 23 issue, Science points out that evolution is the underpinning of all biological research. "Today evolution is the foundation of all biology, so basic and all-pervasive that scientists sometimes take its importance for granted," the editors wrote.
Kingsley's highlighted work was published in the March 25 issue of Science, when he reported finding that 15 isolated freshwater stickleback populations all lost their bony armor through mutations in the same gene. This was among the first times that scientists had shown the same genetic change was responsible for an evolutionary adaptation in disparate populations.
"Our work shows that even major morphological changes are controlled by relatively simple mechanisms," Kingsley said.
