Genetic diversity is essential to the survival of a species. It's easy enough to maintain if a species reproduces sexually; an egg and a sperm combine genetic material from two creatures into one, ...

The study reveals how Balanophora plants function despite abandoning photosynthesis and, in some species, sexual reproduction. Their plastid genomes shrank dramatically in a shared ancestor, yet the ...

The Pro1 protein helps express mating-related genes in different species of fungi. But what happens when Pro1 malfunctions? Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science have found that mutations ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Why are most organisms sexual? The question of why most species reproduce sexually and others reproduce asexually has stymied biologists for years (particularly since asexual ...