Evolution after gene loss: how the tortoise wins over the hare

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About the research

"Evolution is like a race: the individual who can reproduce the fastest wins the race. But we all know of one race that was not won by the fastest..." Jana Helsen (KU Leuven - VIB) explains how evolution is sometimes a bit like the fable about the tortoise and the hare.

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Jana Helsen
KU Leuven - VIB

Ever since learning about Mendel's peas and Darwin's finches, Jana Helsen has been intrigued by genetics and evolution. Jana is interested in one of the most basic questions of life: she wants to figure out how differences in DNA can influence the evolutionary process. During her PhD at KU Leuven, Jana replayed evolution in the lab and investigated why genes surprisingly get lost during evolution.

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