Tag Archives: joel miller

Genetic Study of ‘Co-Evolution’ Could Provide Clues to Better Food Production

Evolutionary ‘arms race’ between caterpillars and cabbage plants helped form present-day butterfly and plant species

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In 1964, renowned biologists Peter Raven and Paul Erhlich published a landmark study that introduced the concept of co-evolution. Using butterflies and plants as primary examples, the team determined that two species can reciprocally drive each other’s evolution and development. Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Missouri and Stockholm University has used cutting-edge genomics to analyze the co-evolution theory and identified the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. Scientists believe that understanding how co-evolution works could help provide genetic clues for producing heartier plants and food for a growing global population. (more…)

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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Finds Clues to How Water Helped Shape Martian Landscape

Observations by NASA’s Curiosity Rover indicate Mars’ Mount Sharp was built by sediments deposited in a large lake bed over tens of millions of years.

This interpretation of Curiosity’s finds in Gale Crater suggests ancient Mars maintained a climate that could have produced long-lasting lakes at many locations on the Red Planet. (more…)

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