All living creatures are composed of organic matter ("organic" in the sense that it is made of carbon, not the "organic" that is 35% more expensive at the grocery store), and the origins of life on...

If you're like us at Shmoop, you don't consider sacs of self-replicating chemicals as "life." We at Shmoop also fire anyone who forgets to wear a Hawaiian shirt on Hawaiian Shirt Fridays (if you're...

When people talk about evolution, they are referring to major changes above the species level, such as how dinosaurs and birds, humans and chimps, and whales and cows are related. This type of evol...

While macroevolution dominated evolutionary biology research for 100 years after Darwin's The Origin of the Species, molecular evolution has taken over to become the major field of the last 50 year...

The Origin of Life1. Which of the following is NOT a potential precursor to RNA?  (A) DNA(B) PNA(C) TNA(D) GNA(E) All are precursors2. Which of the following is NOT a plausible model for...

The Origin of LifeA lot of people think we don't have any idea how life on Earth originated. It seems really likely through experimental evidence that a series of chemical reactions led to formatio...

Sean B. Carroll. The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution.   Charles Darwin. Origin of the Species. (pretty much the reason this chapter exists)  ...