January 7, 2016 Scientists find ancient mutation that contributed to the evolution of multicellular animals
A single chance mutation about a billion years ago caused an ancient protein to evolve a new function essential for multicellularity in animals, according to new research co-led by a University of Chicago scientist.
Not exact matches
If, on the other hand, we define evolution in the Darwinian sense — as a process of random
mutation and natural selection by which all living beings have arisen by
chance from
single - celled organisms over 100's of millions of years — we may not be on equally firm ground from a scientific perspective.
Hereditary predisposition to cancer is sometimes due to a
single high - risk genetic change, like a
mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes for breast cancer, but most of the time, the disease is the result of multiple gene variants that add up, environmental risk factors, and a big element of
chance.
HD is caused by a
single known genetic
mutation, and each child of a carrier of the
mutation has a 50 %
chance of inheriting the disease.