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Picking Up on the Smell of Evolution

UA researchers have discovered some of the changes in genes, physiology and behavior that enable a species to drastically change its lifestyle in the course of evolution

For most of us, switching to a vegetarian diet might be a matter of a New Year’s resolution and a fair amount of willpower, but for an entire species, it’s a much more involved process — one that evolutionary biologists have struggled to understand for a long time. (more…)

Slow Snails, Fast Genes: Predatory Snails Refine Venoms Through Continuous Gene Duplication

By Guest PostApril 3, 2012Natureamerican samoa, cone snail, conotoxins, dan chang, DNA, gene, gene family, genus conus, hawaii, marine, molecular mechanism, neurotoxin, olfactory genes, panama, scorpion, snake, thomas duda, tropical, venoms

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— When tropical marine cone snails sink their harpoon-like teeth into their prey, they inject paralyzing venoms made from a potent mix of more than 100 different neurotoxins.

Biologists have known for more than a decade that the genes which provide the recipes for cone snail toxins are among the fastest-evolving genes in the animal kingdom, enabling these predatory gastropods to constantly refine their venoms to more precisely target the neuromuscular systems of their prey. (more…)

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Picking Up on the Smell of Evolution

Slow Snails, Fast Genes: Predatory Snails Refine Venoms Through Continuous Gene Duplication