The Harvard Gazette

natural selection

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Personality pressure

‘Up until now, we didn’t have evidence from nature that natural selection acted on individual variation in behavior’

Science|

DateJuly 5, 2018January 23, 2019

Harvard biologist Jonathan Losos, pictured handling an American Crocodile skull at the MCZ, talks about his new book, “Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution.”

A new era in the study of evolution

‘Improbable Destinies’ author Jonathan Losos on Darwin, Gould, and how field experiments have transformed his discipline

Health|

DateOctober 2, 2017October 2, 2017

A study by Ph.D. candidate Mashaal Sohail (left) and HMS Professor Shamil Sunyaev found that humans maintain a high mutation rate through a process that stops dangerous mutations before they can spread through the population.

Making sense of survival

Biologists explore role of synergistic epistasis

Health|

DateSeptember 12, 2017September 12, 2017

Shane Campbell-Staton, Ph.D. '15, with a green anole during a collecting trip before the 2013–14 polar vortex. On a subsequent collecting trip, he found greater cold tolerance among the species.

Making the most of a dead lizard in the snow

Extreme winter opened path to insights on natural selection

Health|

DateAugust 29, 2017September 12, 2019

"As a child, I was fascinated with animals. I watched many nature documentaries, and fell in love with the strange and exotic creatures in mysterious parts of the world that I never thought I would have a chance to see," said Ph.D. candidate Shane Campbell-Staton.

Rapid evolution

Ph.D. student to discuss natural selection during Harvard Horizons Symposium

Health|

DateMay 1, 2015

When grown alone, the Texas wild flower Drummond’s phlox will remain purple-blue. When grown with its sister species, it is red. The color change is to prevent hybridization, which results in the inability to reproduce.

Forces of isolation

Study sheds light on ‘reinforcement’ in wildflowers

Health|

DateSeptember 2, 2014

Since 1988, Richard Lenski has watched E. coli bacteria multiply through 59,000 generations, a span that has allowed him to observe evolution in real time. He also found that one of the 12 bacterial lines he has maintained has developed into what he believes is a new species.

Evolution in real time

59,000 generations of bacteria, plus freezer, yield startling results

Health|

DateFebruary 13, 2014March 19, 2019

Christopher Marx, associate professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, says his study shows that while beneficial mutations may be more common than previously believed, they must occur within a limited window of opportunity to become successful. Ultimately, Marx said, the research casts important new light on the process of natural selection.

When timing is everything

Research says beneficial mutations need specific circumstances to win out

Health|

DateMarch 19, 2013May 2, 2019

In a new paper, Harvard researchers show that changes in coat color in mice are the result not of a single mutation, but of many mutations, all in a single gene. “For each of the mutations associated with color change, we also find a signal that’s consistent with positive selection,” said Harvard Professor Hopi Hoekstra.

One gene, many mutations

Key that controls coat color in mice evolved nine times, research shows

Health|

DateMarch 14, 2013March 15, 2019

Driven to Lead: Good, Bad, and Misguided Leadership

<h4>Jossey-Bass, August 2010</h4><h5>By Paul R. Lawrence </h5>

Arts|

DateMarch 22, 2011

Arnold Arboretum Director William “Ned” Friedman said scientific discovery requires more than just an idea: "Darwin had the ability to convince others of the correctness of the idea."

What made Darwin first

Evolution’s revolution was the naturalist’s, though initial idea wasn’t

Health|

DateJanuary 11, 2011March 26, 2019

Mathematical biologists Martin A. Nowak (from left) and Corina E. Tarnita and evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson presented a new theory on the evolution of eusociality, the rare but spectacularly successful social structure in which individuals of the world’s most dominant species cooperate to raise offspring.

The ties that bind

Paths by which creatures put needs of group ahead of their own

Health|

DateAugust 25, 2010June 14, 2019

Mouse set to be ‘evolution icon’

BBC News

News|

DateAugust 27, 2009