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 ...

The neutral theory of molecular evolution proposed by Motoo Kimura has dominated the landscape of evolutionary theory for half a century, but it continues to face challenges. Duong Thuy Nguyen /Quanta ...

While evolution involves changes in organisms that we can observe, they undergo evolution at a deeper level, too. That is, changes affect the "letters" (four different types of chemical units) in the ...

If you had braved the jungles of China’s Fujian province in the early 20th century, various accounts say, you might have witnessed a stunningly unexpected animal: a blue tiger. These tigers were ...

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED That concept was so powerful that we ...

To apply a neutral model of evolution to a population, Hahn explained, you don’t have to know how strong selection is, how large the population is, whether mutations are dominant or recessive, or ...