Learn about two bioengineering examples: fish that make a glowing jellyfish protein, and yeast that make spider silk.
Learn about proteins, the molecules living things are made of.
Explore the types of proteins and learn about their varied functions.
Get to know the molecule that holds the instructions for building every living thing.
Find out how the DNA code letters A, C, G, and T make a DNA molecule by building one yourself.
Walk through protein synthesis with this animated example.
See how cells "read" the information in a DNA sequence to build a protein—in a bit more detail.
Take a closer look at the unity of life: the basic functions required for life, and the genes and proteins that underlie them.
Our brains are very clever, but they also use some shortcuts that lead to wrong assumptions. Learn how science helps to defeat these natural, inborn biases.
Meet the rock pocket mouse: a little rodent that gets a lot of attention.
Whether a trait is an advantage or not depends on context.
Learn about the three things that make natural selection happen: variability, heritability, and reproductive advantage.
Learn about this little fish, and why a particular population in an Alaskan lake drew researchers' interest.
The consequence of mutation, allele shuffling, and natural selection acting over time is that populations tend to be well-adapted to their environments.
This video introduces tree diagrams - models that organize hypotheses about common ancestry.
See a quick overview of some of the evidence that scientists have used to understand evolutionary relationships across the tree of life.
Find out what DNA has to do with anatomy, embryological development, and fossils.
How many genes do chickens and moss have in common? It may be more than you think.
Take a moment to think about the characteristics of species, breeds, and individual dogs.
Take a look at how variation occurs.
Small changes to DNA can lead to big variations in traits.
Follow the math in this real-life example to see why, given enough time, even very specific DNA changes are highly likely.
Learn how traits pass from parents to offspring.
See how variations in genes, called alleles, are shuffled with each generation to make new gene combinations.
Even in species that look alike to us, individuals have variations in their DNA. Learn why this is important.
This video explains why 'species' is such a tricky concept to define.
As this collection of real-life examples demonstrates, not all barriers are physical.
Get familiar with a real-life example that offers a rare opportunity to observe speciation in real time.
Learn what DNA evidence can tell us about the evolutionary history of species.
The underlying pattern of evolution is that ancestral species diversify, giving rise to new lineages.
See many common misconceptions about evolution, explained.
Scroll through the span of geologic time from the Earth's origin to the present day.
Fossils, embryos, and DNA teach us about the unity of life.
See when and where new characteristics evolved in the animal family tree.
Humans have been selecting for desirable traits in organisms throughout history.
Small changes in genes of a wild grass have yielded one of today's most vital crops.