Can Threatened Species Evolve Their Way Out of Trouble?
Ecologist Andrew Gonzalez explains that experiments on yeast
suggest that threatened species may be able to evolve fast
enough — under the right conditions — to survive. Untold numbers
of species are on the brink of extinction. What can do we about
it? Dr. Andrew Gonzalez, an ecologist at McGill University, has
a brand new approach for thinking about saving species. In this
week’s Curiouser & Curiouser podcast, Gonzalez talks about the
possibility of threatened species getting out of danger through
evolution, by changing their genetic code to adapt to new
conditions. At first glance, the idea seems crazy. We think of
evolution taking place over very long periods, with gradual
changes in species over time. How could slow-moving evolution
have any impact on all of the species getting pushed off a cliff
by fast-moving environmental changes? Gonzalez has simulated the
effect of rapid environmental change on a species in his
laboratory. He finds that, amazing