Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Evolution of New Traits in Microbes

Evolution of New Traits in Microbes

Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the human psyche...

Natural Selection and Adaptation

Natural Selection and Adaptation

Natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology, is the mechanism by which evolution is driven, favoring organisms that are best adapted to their environments. This process enhances their chances of survival and reproduction. Adaptation, a key outcome of this process, involves genetic modifications that optimize an organism's functionality under specific environmental challenges, such as extreme cold or thinner air at high altitudes.
Beyond physical adaptations, psychological...

Genetic Drift

Genetic Drift

Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.

Entropy Change in Reversible Processes

Entropy Change in Reversible Processes

In the Carnot engine, which achieves the maximum efficiency between two reservoirs of fixed temperatures, the total change in entropy is zero. The observation can be generalized by considering any reversible cyclic process consisting of many Carnot cycles. Thus, it can be stated that the total entropy change of any ideal reversible cycle is zero.
The statement can be further generalized to prove that entropy is a state function. Take a cyclic process between any two points on a p-V diagram.

Evolutionary Processes in Microbes

Evolutionary Processes in Microbes

Microbial evolution occurs rapidly due to short generation times and a variety of genetic processes, including horizontal gene transfer, mutation, recombination, and genetic drift. These mechanisms collectively enable microbes to adapt swiftly to changing environments.Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) allows genes to move between different species and occurs through three main mechanisms: conjugation, transformation, and transduction. Conjugation involves direct cell-to-cell contact for DNA...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

AI discovers learning algorithm that outperforms those designed by humans.

Nature·2025

Same author

Automating the Search for Artificial Life With Foundation Models.

Artificial life·2025

Same author

First return, then explore.

Nature·2021

Same author

The Surprising Creativity of Digital Evolution: A Collection of Anecdotes from the Evolutionary Computation and Artificial Life Research Communities.

Artificial life·2020

Same author

Why Open-Endedness Matters.

Artificial life·2019

Same author

An Overview of Open-Ended Evolution: Editorial Introduction to the Open-Ended Evolution II Special Issue.

Artificial life·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

Evolvability is inevitable: increasing evolvability without the pressure to adapt.

Joel Lehman¹, Kenneth O Stanley

¹Department of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America. joel@cs.utexas.edu

|May 3, 2013

Summary

Evolvability may increase over time not due to adaptation pressure, but through heritable evolvability and niche founding. These mechanisms drive a bias towards evolvability through genetic drift and population growth, even without competition.

More Related Videos

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Procedure for Adaptive Laboratory Evolution of Microorganisms Using a Chemostat

Procedure for Adaptive Laboratory Evolution of Microorganisms Using a Chemostat

Published on: September 20, 2016

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 11, 2026

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Procedure for Adaptive Laboratory Evolution of Microorganisms Using a Chemostat

Procedure for Adaptive Laboratory Evolution of Microorganisms Using a Chemostat

Published on: September 20, 2016

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Genetics

Background:

The increase in evolvability over evolutionary time is a significant unresolved question in biology.
Existing explanations often focus on adaptive pressures, but alternative mechanisms are explored.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose and investigate a novel hypothesis for increasing evolvability without adaptive pressure.
To demonstrate how genetic drift and niche colonization can inherently increase evolvability.

Main Methods:

Theoretical modeling and simulation experiments were employed.
The study simulated evolutionary processes across genotypic and phenotypic spaces.
Mechanisms of heritable evolvability, genetic drift, and niche founding were analyzed.

Main Results:

Increasing evolvability can occur without selection or competition.
Heritable evolvability, combined with genetic drift, biases phenotypes towards higher evolvability.
Niche founding, correlated with phenotypic divergence, can also contribute to a genotypic bias for evolvability.

Conclusions:

Evolvability may increase as an inevitable consequence of genetic drift and niche accumulation, rather than solely from adaptive pressures.
The findings challenge traditional views linking evolvability exclusively to adaptation.
This provides a new framework for understanding the evolution of evolvability.