Cradle of creation: Evolution shapes up new ecosystem in the lab
The longest running
evolutionary lab experiment has reproduced yet another aspect of the natural
world, showing how a major change in one creature can transform its
environment, and alter the evolutionary trajectory of all the creatures
inhabiting that space.
The Long-term Experimental
Evolution Project began in 1988. Richard
Lenski at Michigan State University took a single strain of the E. coli bacterium
and set up 12 cultures.
Every day since then, a
sample of each culture has been transferred to fresh growth medium, containing
glucose as the main nutrient. The bacteria have now undergone more than 60,000
generations since the experiment began.
Evolutionary experiments
in the lab are now routine. Many biologists are also studying evolution in the
wild and some think that rapid
evolution may be the norm rather than the exception.
But Lenski's experiment has
allowed us to witness evolution in unprecedented detail. Because samples are
frozen every 75 days, the team can go back and identify the precise genetic
mutations underlying the changes they see.
The experiment has become a
poster child for evolution, causing consternation among creationists
trying to explain away its compelling evidence.
The biggest evolutionary
shift occurred after about the 31,500 generation.
If you want to read the
complete article then you may visit the direct link ---> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27760-cradle-of-creation-evolution-shapes-up-new-ecosystem-in-the-lab.html
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