origin

On the origin of COVID and the persistence of Omicron: this geneticist's point of view - DNA Science

On the origin of COVID and the persistence of Omicron: this geneticist’s point of view – DNA Science

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The last phrase borrowed from biology in COVID conversations is convergent evolution. It refers to pairs of unrelated species that resemble each other because their ancestors evolved under similar environmental conditions. Natural selection favored adaptive (useful) inherited traits, and millennia later two unrelated species of mammals or birds look remarkably similar. Convergent evolution also happens …

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Fossil disrupts more than a century of knowledge about the origin of modern birds

Fossil disrupts more than a century of knowledge about the origin of modern birds

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Artist’s reconstruction of the last known toothed bird, Janavis finalidens, in its native environment surrounded by the concomitant “wonderchicken”, Asteriornis. 66.7 million years ago, parts of Belgium were covered by shallow seas and conditions were similar to modern tropical beaches in places like the Bahamas. Janavis was a very large seabird, with long wings and …

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Origin of Ninety Mile Beach Mussel Spat Finally Revealed

Origin of Ninety Mile Beach Mussel Spat Finally Revealed

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Mussel spat collection on Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe/Ninety Mile Beach is a regular occurrence, with spat going to most mussel farms in the country. It’s a $380 million a year industry. But most mussels from New Zealand aquaculture farms come from spat collected at Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe/Ninety Mile Beach, which in turn came from other sites in Northland, …

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Study: Recombination-aware phylogenetic analysis sheds light on the evolutionary origin of SARS-CoV-2. Image Credit: NicoElNino/Shutterstock

Scientists study the evolutionary origin of SARS-CoV-2 using recombination-sensitive phylogenetic analysis

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) belong to the subgenus Sarbecovirus, which has a genomic length of approximately 30,000 base pairs. These viruses encode four structural proteins, namely spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N). Study: Recombination-aware phylogenetic analysis sheds light on the evolutionary origin …

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Dead stars covered in space debris could reveal the origin of planets

Dead stars covered in space debris could reveal the origin of planets

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white dwarf stars are messy eaters, and the crumbs on their faces could reveal the origins of planetary cores. When Cambridge University astronomer Amy Bonsor and her colleagues studied the light spectrum of white dwarfs – the burnt-out remnants of small stars – they noticed flecks of heavier elements on the surfaces of the stars …

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