Researchers at Yale University have shed light on the phenomenon of “living fossils,” a term coined by Charles Darwin in 1859. Stady Published in the magazine development, highlights the Lepisosteidae, an ancient family of ray-finned fish, as emblematic examples of living fossils due to their slow rate of molecular evolution. What distinguishes this result is the proof An inherent biological mechanism accounts for the persistence of these organisms over thousands of years With minimal physical differences or species diversity compared to their ancestors.
It is developing at a very slow pace
Research indicates that these fish have The slowest rate of molecular evolution among all jawed vertebratesWhich means that its genome changes more slowly compared to other animals. This glacial rhythm of evolution is linked to the Jurassic period The process of hybridization in species Who shared a common ancestor during the age of dinosaurs, which in turn limited the diversity of their species. Thomas J. highlights Nair, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Yale School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study, highlights the discovery as the first scientific example in which an evolutionary lineage, by its most fundamental aspect, in biology, is shown to fit the criteria of a living fossil.
The key to DNA regeneration against cancer
Researchers suggest so Garfish have an unusually efficient DNA repair mechanismwhich allows them Correction of somatic and germline mutations More efficiently than most other vertebrates. This ability to repair DNA could have major implications for human health, as most cancers are caused by somatic mutations, which are failures of an individual's DNA repair mechanisms. If further studies confirm that DNA repair mechanisms are highly effective, we can begin to think about potential applications for human health, Nir says.
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