What is evolution?

Evolution is the cornerstone of biology, explaining the incredible diversity of life on Earth. Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. This change is driven by various mechanisms, primarily natural selection.

What are the main features of evolution?

  • Descent with Modification: All living things share a common ancestor, and over time, populations have diverged through modifications in their heritable traits.
  • Variation: Individuals within a population exhibit variations in their traits, which arise from genetic differences.
  • Natural Selection: Traits that enhance survival and reproduction become more common in a population over generations. This doesn't necessarily imply progress towards "better" but rather adaptation to the environment.
  • Genetic Drift: Random changes in gene frequencies within a population can also contribute to evolution.

Why is evolution important?

  • Evolution explains the origin of species, the intricate adaptations seen in living organisms, and their relationships to each other.
  • It provides a framework for understanding how life has changed and continues to change on Earth.
  • Evolutionary principles are crucial in various fields like medicine (antibiotic resistance), agriculture (pest control), and conservation biology.

What are applications of evolution in practice?

  • Drug Discovery: Studying how pathogens evolve resistance to drugs helps develop new strategies to combat infections.
  • Pest Management: Understanding how insects evolve resistance to pesticides allows for developing more sustainable control methods.
  • Conservation Biology: Evolutionary principles guide conservation efforts to protect endangered species and maintain biodiversity.

Practical example

  • The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is a classic example. When exposed to antibiotics, some bacteria with random mutations that provide resistance survive and reproduce. Over generations, these resistant bacteria become more common in the population, posing a significant challenge in medicine.

Critical comments

  • Evolution is a slow process that can be difficult to observe directly.
  • The theory of evolution is sometimes misunderstood or misrepresented.
  • There are ongoing debates on the role of chance vs. determinism in the evolutionary process.
Access: 
Public

Image

Click & Go to more related summaries or chapters:

Study Guide with flashcards and definitions with Genomics at Utrecht University

Flashcards and definitions with Genomics

Online flashcards with Genomics

  • Centromere
  • Chromatides
  • Chromosomes
  • Sex chromosomes
  • Asexual reproduction
  • Sexual reproduction
  • Mitosis
  • Meiosis
  • Genomics
  • Transcriptomics
  • Proteomics
  • Metabolomics
  • Plasmid
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Next Generation Sequencing
  • Sanger sequencing
  • RNA-sequencing
  • CRISPR-Cas9
  • Forward genetic screens
  • Reverse genetic screens
  • RNA interference
  • Bioinformatics
  • DNA replication
  • DNA mutation
  • Evolution
  • Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)
  • Virus
  • Microsatellites
  • Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST)
  • Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable data (FAIR data)
  • Phylogenetic tree
  • Insertion
  • Deletion
  • For flashcards and definitions, see the supporting content of this study guide
Access: 
Public

Genomics: The best concepts summarized

Genomics: The best concepts summarized

Table of contents

  • Centromere
  • Chromatides
  • Chromosomes
  • Sex chromosomes
  • Asexual reproduction
  • Sexual reproduction
  • Mitosis
  • Meiosis
  • Genomics
  • Transcriptomics
  • Proteomics
  • Metabolomics
  • Plasmid
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Next Generation Sequencing
  • Sanger sequencing
  • RNA-sequencing
  • CRISPR-Cas9
  • Forward genetic screens
  • Reverse genetic screens
  • RNA interference
  • Bioinformatics
  • DNA replication
  • DNA mutation
  • Evolution
  • Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)
  • Virus
  • Microsatellites
  • Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST)
  • Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable data (FAIR data)
  • Phylogenetic tree
  • Insertion
  • Deletion
Access: 
Public
This content refers to .....
Summaries and Study Assistance - Start

Summaries and Study Assistance - Start

Summaries, study notes, tips and tools for study and know how

For optimal and free use of summaries, study help, exam tickets, practice exams, bullet points notes

  •     join JoHo WorldSupporter
  •     then check the study and exam tips;
  •     study the material through the summaries;
  •     repeat the material through the bullets or notes
  •     master the material through the practice exams.
...Read more
Image
Follow the author: Hugo
More contributions of WorldSupporter author: Hugo:
Work for WorldSupporter

Image

JoHo can really use your help!  Check out the various student jobs here that match your studies, improve your competencies, strengthen your CV and contribute to a more tolerant world

Working for JoHo as a student in Leyden

Parttime werken voor JoHo

Comments, Compliments & Kudos:

Add new contribution

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
Promotions
Image
The JoHo Insurances Foundation is specialized in insurances for travel, work, study, volunteer, internships an long stay abroad
Check the options on joho.org (international insurances) or go direct to JoHo's https://www.expatinsurances.org

 

Check how to use summaries on WorldSupporter.org

Online access to all summaries, study notes en practice exams

How and why would you use WorldSupporter.org for your summaries and study assistance?

  • For free use of many of the summaries and study aids provided or collected by your fellow students.
  • For free use of many of the lecture and study group notes, exam questions and practice questions.
  • For use of all exclusive summaries and study assistance for those who are member with JoHo WorldSupporter with online access
  • For compiling your own materials and contributions with relevant study help
  • For sharing and finding relevant and interesting summaries, documents, notes, blogs, tips, videos, discussions, activities, recipes, side jobs and more.

Using and finding summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter

There are several ways to navigate the large amount of summaries, study notes en practice exams on JoHo WorldSupporter.

  1. Use the menu above every page to go to one of the main starting pages
    • Starting pages: for some fields of study and some university curricula editors have created (start) magazines where customised selections of summaries are put together to smoothen navigation. When you have found a magazine of your likings, add that page to your favorites so you can easily go to that starting point directly from your profile during future visits. Below you will find some start magazines per field of study
  2. Use the topics and taxonomy terms
    • The topics and taxonomy of the study and working fields gives you insight in the amount of summaries that are tagged by authors on specific subjects. This type of navigation can help find summaries that you could have missed when just using the search tools. Tags are organised per field of study and per study institution. Note: not all content is tagged thoroughly, so when this approach doesn't give the results you were looking for, please check the search tool as back up
  3. Check or follow your (study) organizations:
    • by checking or using your study organizations you are likely to discover all relevant study materials.
    • this option is only available trough partner organizations
  4. Check or follow authors or other WorldSupporters
    • by following individual users, authors  you are likely to discover more relevant study materials.
  5. Use the Search tools
    • 'Quick & Easy'- not very elegant but the fastest way to find a specific summary of a book or study assistance with a specific course or subject.
    • The search tool is also available at the bottom of most pages

Do you want to share your summaries with JoHo WorldSupporter and its visitors?

Quicklinks to fields of study for summaries and study assistance

Field of study

Check the related and most recent topics and summaries:
Activity abroad, study field of working area:
Access level of this page
  • Public
  • WorldSupporters only
  • JoHo members
  • Private
Statistics
433