In The Origin of Species, published in 1859, Charles Darwin described evolution as a process subject to diverse influences. Natural selection, of course, leads to adaptation in a manner similar to the changes elicited by breeders of pets or livestock.
There is a natural way to tell a tale: begin at the beginning and end at the end. Standard biographies, for example, start with the forebears, in many cases the grandparents, and end with the protagonist's death.
We tend to think of our genetic information as being encoded in DNA – in our genes. Brona McVittie from Epigenome NoE, UK, describes why this is only part of the story.
At the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, Peer Bork’s research group has meticulously reconstructed a new tree of life – tracing the course of evolution. Russ Hodge explains.
Power, Sex, Suicide: three words that immediately aroused my interest in reading this book. The subtitle, Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life, explains what the book is about – the crucial role of mitochondria in our lives.
Detlev Arendt, a molecular biologist at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany, describes to Russ Hodge how his cutting-edge research is following in the footsteps of a 19th-century scientist.
