Habitat "stress" accelerates evolution by disrupting mutation inhibitor HSP90

[Las Vegas Mixx]

"Usually when people think about mechanisms of evolution, they think about coding changes, regulatory changes and other things, but this is a different mechanism that acts through standing genetic variation," Rohner said. "This evidence will hopefully help in convincing people that this might be a valid mechanism — at least in cases where you are dealing with rapid changes in the environment."

http://io9.com/how-the-cavefish-lost-its-eyes-1481689405

Evolution is much more complex than "survival of the fittest". Even evolution itself is adaptive through biological/chemical mechanisms.

[Warpy]

1. Not surprising

Overpopulated and running out of food? Find another niche to exploit.

[LVZ]

2. Dr. Susan Lindquist, Harvard University / M.I.T.

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/12/protein-triggers-rapid-evolution-fish
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/03/protein-folding-life%E2%80%99s-vital-origami/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Lindquist


Dr. Susan Lindquist, Harvard University

For Dan Jarosz, a former postdoctoral researcher in Lindquist’s lab, the study is an important validation of Lindquist’s work on evolution.

“We now have enough evidence to say that large, rapid environmental change can reveal new variation and change the outcomes of real evolution in nature,” he says.