I&#x27;m a math biology (in other words, I use math to model biology problems) student, and not an evolution nay-sayer, and...the scientific work isn&#x27;t at all about showing how the amazingly (I&#x27;m a student, I learn to respect my opponent) complex phenomena underlying the emergence of organs can be neatly associated with single events.<p>In particular, this article was of interest to me simply because of how grand a claim it makes.<p>In general, grand claims are something to approach with skepticism, because of laws of probability number 35, which states that: &quot;few complex non-linear phenomena have a beautifully simple explanation, and if a grand claim purports to be such an explanation, then it most likely is not such an explanation&quot;.<p>It is worth reading law 36 of probability as well: &quot;the maker of a grand claim is more likely to be a &#x27;journalist&#x27; or a PR department person, than a scientist&quot;.<p>How do the laws of probability hold up? Pretty darn well, I&#x27;d say.<p>Here&#x27;s the abstract (by the way, eLife IS an open source journal, so the journalist had no excuse here):<p>&gt; To form and maintain organized tissues, multicellular organisms orient their mitotic spindles relative to neighboring cells. A molecular complex scaffolded by the GK protein-interaction domain (GKPID) mediates spindle orientation in diverse animal taxa by linking microtubule motor proteins to a marker protein on the cell cortex localized by external cues. Here we illuminate how this complex evolved and commandeered control of spindle orientation from a more ancient mechanism. The complex was assembled through a series of molecular exploitation events, one of which – the evolution of GKPID’s capacity to bind the cortical marker protein – can be recapitulated by reintroducing a single historical substitution into the reconstructed ancestral GKPID. This change revealed and repurposed an ancient molecular surface that previously had a radically different function. We show how the physical simplicity of this binding interface enabled the evolution of a new protein function now essential to the biological complexity of many animals.<p>Key takeaways:<p>1) &quot;A molecular complex scaffolded by the GK protein-interaction domain (GKPID) mediates spindle orientation in diverse animal taxa by linking microtubule motor proteins to a marker protein on the cell cortex localized by external cues&quot;<p>Explanation: in this sentence, the scientists are carefully pointing out where the &#x27;thing&#x27; (a protein domain) they are going to make a claim about fits into the biological picture. No, there isn&#x27;t one superhero -- there&#x27;s a carefully choreographed concert that their &#x27;thing&#x27; is a part of.<p>2) &quot;we illuminate how this complex evolved and commandeered control of spindle orientation from a more ancient mechanism&quot;<p>Very cool. Simple statement. Interesting, but no grand claim.<p>3) &quot;The complex was assembled through a series of molecular exploitation events, one of which – the evolution of GKPID’s capacity to bind the cortical marker protein – can be recapitulated by reintroducing a single historical substitution into the reconstructed ancestral GKPID.&quot;<p>Again, they reiterate how there was actually a bunch of things happening (&quot;a series of molecular exploitation events&quot;), ONE of which is the cool one they want to talk about.<p>4) &quot;This change revealed and repurposed an ancient molecular surface that previously had a radically different function.&quot;<p>If you were wondering what&#x27;s cool, this is what&#x27;s cool.<p>5) In conclusion: &quot;We show how the physical simplicity of this binding interface enabled the evolution of a new protein function now essential to the biological complexity of many animals.&quot;<p>Hmm...no grand claim finishing claim made regarding how this ONE thing changed EVERYTHING. Again, we are reminded of the whole picture: &quot;so yeah guys, here&#x27;s how this protein function, which is essential (because it&#x27;s part of a super complex dance number) for so many living things, probably came about&quot;.<p>I&#x27;m going to go commission a gold filigree copy of the laws of probability.