A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists from Israel and Ghana shows that an evolutionarily significant mutation in the human APOL1 gene arises not ...

For a long time, evolutionary biologists have thought that the genetic mutations that drive the evolution of genes and proteins are largely neutral: they're neither good nor bad, but just ordinary ...

In simple terms: a mutation is a stable change in genetic sequence that can be copied when cells or viruses replicate. Most mutations have no detectable effect, some contribute to disease, and a small ...

Molecular evolutionary biologist Masatoshi Nei says Darwin never proved natural selection is the driving force of evolution — because it isn't. In a cavernous concert hall, before an eager audience of ...

A major research study is challenging one of evolution’s most influential ideas: that most genetic changes that become permanent are essentially neutral. Researchers at the University of Michigan ...

In the 1960s, Kimura’s neutral theory revolutionized molecular biology by arguing most DNA changes are random, not adaptive. A new study finds beneficial mutations are far more common than Kimura’s ...

A major evolutionary theory says most genetic changes don’t really matter, but new evidence suggests that’s not true. Researchers found that helpful mutations happen surprisingly often. The twist is ...