Microbial organisms dominate life on Earth, but tracing their early history and evolution is difficult because they rarely fossilize. Determining when exactly a particular group of microbes first ...

The oldest fossilized remains of complex animals appear suddenly in the fossil record, and as if from nowhere, in rocks that are 538 million years old. The rapid arrival of animals so different to ...

Molecular clocks that can provide accurate estimates of both molecular age and lifespan across multiple mammalian species and tissue types are presented in an article published in Nature this week. An ...

Molecular dating and divergence time estimation encompass a suite of analytical frameworks designed to reconstruct the temporal dimension of evolutionary history by translating genetic differences ...

The molecular clock theory posits that genetic changes happen steadily and gradually, offering a reliable means for peering into the past and theorizing when complex life first emerged. However, there ...

Melanopsin, a blue photoreceptor in retinal cells, receives blue light each morning and transmits the signal via the nerves of the eye to the SCN, the circadian rhythm central pacemaker. The photo ...

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Different parts of the brain perform a variety of functions, all of which are necessary for it to operate in one way or another. These functions ...

Researchers from the Institute for Molecular Science (IMS)/SOKENDAI and Kyushu University have uncovered the molecular mechanism that drives the "ticking" of the circadian clock in cyanobacteria.