Fill This Form To Receive Instant Help
Fill This Form To Receive Instant Help
Homework answers / question archive / 52) Define convergent evolution
52) Define convergent evolution. Define gene flow. Could either or both explain why we see the same genetic mutations in samples of coronavirus from the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, and other countries in the world?
37) Read this excerpt from a new article and then answer the question blow.
"As Americans anxiously watch variants first identified in the Uni el ted Kingdom and S el outh Africa spread in the United States, scientists are finding a number of new variants that originated here. More concerning, many of these variants seem to be evolving in the same direction — potentially becoming contagious threats of their own.
In a study el posted on Sunday, a team of researchers reported seven growing lineages of the novel coronavirus [.?1, spotted in states across the country. All of them have evolved a mutation in the same genetic letter.
"There's clearly something going on with this mutation," said Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport and a co-author of the new study.
It's unclear whether it makes the variants more contagious. But because the mutation appears in a gene that influences how the virus enters human cells, the scientists are highly suspicious. "I think there's a clear signature of an evolutionary benefit," Dr. Kamil said.
Explain how the process of mutation and natural selection can result in the evolution of new variants of the coronavirus. Hint- use the 5 criteria for natural selection that we discussed in the evolution lecture and reviewed in class on Tuesday.
