In addition to demonstrating the evolution of gene control over tooth development, the hens' teeth study serves as an ...

Three years ago, George Kassiotis and his team made an unexpected discovery: A specific way of producing a protein called ...

Like all complex organisms, every human originates from a single cell that multiplies through countless cell divisions. Thousands of cells coordinate, move and exert mechanical forces on each other as ...

Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before ...

A massive multiomics study of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout shows that developmental constraints, particularly at the ...

Is there only one optimal configuration an organism can reach during evolution? Is there a single formula that describes the trajectory towards the optimum? And can we 'derive' it in a purely ...

How can we explain the morphological diversity of living organisms? Although genetics is the answer that typically springs to mind, it is not the only explanation. By combining observations of ...

A single exposure to near-infrared light can set off chemical reactions that continue for ...

Small fold – big role: A tissue fold known as the cephalic furrow, an evolutionary novelty that forms between the head and the trunk of fly embryos, plays a mechanical role in stabilizing embryonic ...

Despite differences in shape and size all insects are characterized by a body organization that includes three units: a head, thorax and abdomen (panels A-B). In contrast all spiders (and other ...

Have you ever looked at a human embryo and thought, “That kind of looks like a fish”? If you haven’t, you might be surprised to learn that, in a way, we all begin our lives like this. The idea that ...