Gene 'relocation' key to most evolutionary change in bacteria
Sunday, January 30, 2011 - 08:31
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have now shown that bacteria evolve new abilities, such as antibiotic resistance, predominantly by acquiring genes from other bacteria. The researchers new insights into the evolution of bacteria partly contradict the widely accepted theory that new biological functions in bacteria and other microbes arise primarily through the process of gene duplication within the same organism.