Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

The Evidence for Evolution02:55

The Evidence for Evolution

Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Evolutionary and Structural Analysis Reveals the Gradual Establishment and High Conservation of Auxin Pathways from Algae to Land Plants.

Plant physiology·2026
Same author

Insights into the phylogenetic, structural and functional evolution of <i>LHC</i> superfamily in photosynthetic organisms.

Plant diversity·2026
Same author

Adaptive evolutionary shifts in de novo birth and fixation strategy of lineage-specific genes during plant terrestrialization.

The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology·2026
Same author

Functional evolution and rewiring of the UVR8-BES1/BIM1 module underpin the refinement of UV-B responses during plant terrestrialization.

Plant communications·2026
Same author

The evolutionary path of widespread IR heteroplasmy of chloroplast genomes in the context of Rhodophyta phylogeny.

Journal of molecular evolution·2026
Same author

Editing strigolactone hormone receptor for robust antiviral silencing in rice.

Cell·2026
Same journal

Thymidylate synthase inhibitory drugs induce p53-dependent pathways differently.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Top-down and bottom-up attention for joint pattern classification and reconstruction.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Short- and long-term scaling behavior of blood pressure and pulse arrival time during sleep in healthy controls and patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Double DQN-based secrecy energy efficiency and fairness performance in IRS-assisted NOMA systems with friendly jamming.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

10 recommendations for strengthening citizen science for improved societal and ecological outcomes: A co-produced analysis of challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.

PloS one·2026
Same journal

Paying in public: Peer effects, impression management, and willingness to pay on digital payment platforms.

PloS one·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

Beyond reasonable doubt: evolution from DNA sequences.

W Timothy J White1, Bojian Zhong, David Penny

  • 1Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Plos One
|August 17, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary theory predicts that homologous protein sequences converge further back in time. This study quantitatively confirms this, showing the probability of random chance producing this ancestral convergence is astronomically low.

More Related Videos

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
12:00

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts

Published on: February 5, 2014

Rare Event Detection Using Error-corrected DNA and RNA Sequencing
10:36

Rare Event Detection Using Error-corrected DNA and RNA Sequencing

Published on: August 3, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 8, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
12:00

A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts

Published on: February 5, 2014

Rare Event Detection Using Error-corrected DNA and RNA Sequencing
10:36

Rare Event Detection Using Error-corrected DNA and RNA Sequencing

Published on: August 3, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Bioinformatics

Background:

  • Evolutionary theory posits that homologous sequences converge over time.
  • Previous models have not quantitatively assessed ancestral sequence convergence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantitatively demonstrate ancestral sequence convergence predicted by evolutionary theory.
  • To test evolutionary theory against a non-evolutionary model using protein sequence data.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of homologous protein sequences from various species and organelles (chloroplast, nuclear, mitochondrial).
  • Statistical testing comparing observed convergence against a non-evolutionary probability model.
  • Evaluation across different evolutionary time depths.

Main Results:

  • Observed ancestral convergence in protein sequences strongly supports evolutionary theory.
  • The probability of random chance generating this convergence is exceedingly low (≈1×10⁻¹³² across datasets).
  • A non-evolutionary model failed to show convergence, requiring minimal parameters for the evolutionary model.

Conclusions:

  • The findings provide quantitative evidence for evolutionary theory and ancestral sequence convergence.
  • Challenges the likelihood of non-evolutionary explanations for observed sequence data.
  • Calls for testable alternatives to evolution from skeptical researchers.