A recent study discovered that certain molecules mimic the exact shapes of other molecules, allowing them to interact in a way that protects the genetic integrity of their host organism.

Scientists observe many changes to animal physiology that occur too quickly to fit the “slow and gradual” concepts favored by classical Darwinian evolution. An illustration of this type of rapid variation is the ever-growing list of dog breeds, which proliferated to over 150 from only a few dozen strains in just a couple of centuries.

Darwin’s original conception of simple-to-complex evolution maintained that nature selected certain individuals with superior features, and in this way gradually, one tiny feature at a time, an entirely different creature could eventually form.

Some science media outlets are hailing a recent study as “live evolution witnessed,” but what researchers at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique actually saw isn’t evolution at all. They observed, over the course of 300 generations, predator bacteria adapting to overcome certain defenses erected by its prey.

A very interesting article was recently published in New Scientist magazine in honor of the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth.¹ Sixteen of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists were asked to identify the biggest gaps remaining in evolutionary theory.