Uncovering the Secrets of Multicellular Evolution through Experimental Evolution.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have initiated the first long-term evolution experiment aimed at evolving new kinds of multicellular organisms from single-celled ancestors in the lab. Over 3,000 generations of laboratory evolution, the researchers watched as their model organism, "snowflake yeast," began to adapt as multicellular individuals. In research published in Nature, the team shows how snowflake yeast evolved to be physically stronger and more than 20,000 times larger than their ancestor. This type of biophysical evolution is a pre-requisite for the kind of large multicellular life that can be seen with the naked eye.