Back in February I discovered the remarkable work of Australian biologist Bryan Grieg Fry, who has been tracing the evolution of venom. As I wrote in the New York Times, he searched the genomes of snakes for venom genes. He discovered that even non-venomous snakes produce venom. By drawing an evolutionary tree of the venom genes, Fry showed that the common ancestor of living snakes had several kinds of venom, which had evolved through accidental “borrowing” of proteins produced in other parts of the body. Later, these genes duplicated to create a sophisticated cocktail of venoms–a cocktail that varied from one lineage of snakes to another.

Continue reading “Which Came First, the Snake or the Venom?” →

Following up on my earlier post, I wanted to relay one more piece of book news. I’ve been getting some emails over the past couple months inquiring about my book, Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea. I wrote it as a companion volume to the 2001 PBS television series, Evolution. Like the series, the book surveys the history and cutting edge of evolutionary biology, from the origin of new species to mass extinctions, from the rise of complex life to the emergence of humans. It also looks at ongoing evolutionary races, whether the competitors are hosts and parasites or members of the opposite sex. It puts evolution in a historical context, showing how Darwin’s theory emerged out of the science of his time and how social and political tensions have produced hostility to the notion of evolution today. (More details about the book can be found here.)

Continue reading “Book News, Part Two” →

My latest book, Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins is now available on Amazon.com, and I think it’s getting put on the shelves at bookstores. I’ve only referred to the book here glancingly from time to time, and I wanted to take a minute now to give Loom readers a sense of the book (and perhaps inspire the sales of a few copies).

Continue reading “Book News, Part One” →

This story starts in 1987, with the skin of a frog.

Continue reading “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” →

As a father of two dawn-loving children I don’t get as much sleep as I used to, which makes me wonder sometimes why I crave it so much. A number of scientists who share my curiosity have turned to sleeping animals to find an answer. Sleep appears to be an ancient behavior, perhaps 600 million years old or older. But it may not exist “for” any one purpose. Instead, sleep can serve many functions, as animals are shaped by evolutionary tradeoffs. I’ve written an article about the evolution of sleep for tomorrow’s New York Times where you can read more. (And for those interested in some of the the gory technical details, here’s an interesting new review in Nature that’s free.)

Continue reading “The Long, Long Sleep” →