BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Evolution

Science
Evolution
Evolution has taken place over millions of years and scientists believe this is the reason why all living things on Earth exist today. There are different views and theories about the origin of life and the evolutionary process. English naturalist Charles Darwin wrote one of the first major scientific books on this subject.

Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who studied variation in plants and animals during a five-year voyage around the world in the 19th century. He explained his ideas on evolution in a book called, 'On the Origin of Species' , published in 1859. This shows how species adapt and change by:

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

variation in any population of organisms there will be some differences over-production many organisms produce more offspring than necessary struggle for existence there is competition for survival and resources between the organisms survival - those with helpful characteristics are more likely to survive to breed useful characteristics inherited by the offspring gradual change of the species over a period of time as useful characteristics are passed to offspring.
Darwin's ideas caused a lot of controversy, and this continues today, because they can be seen as conflicting with religious views about the creation of the world and the creatures living in it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/classification_inheritance/evolutionrev_print.shtml[10/21/2013 8:12:01 PM]

BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Evolution

The basic idea behind the theory of evolution is that all the different species have evolved from simple life forms. These simple life forms first developed more than 3 billion years ago (the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old). The timeline below shows some of the key events in the evolution of life on Earth, from the first bacteria [ bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic in humans, animals and plants. Singular is bacterium. ] to the first modern humans. You can see a more detailed history of life timeline on BBC Nature .

Support for Darwins theory

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Microorganisms such as bacteria [ bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic in humans, animals and plants. Singular is bacterium. ] and viruses [ viruses: ultramicroscopic non-cellular organisms that replicate E. coli bacteria (Photo from themselves inside the cells of living Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH) hosts ] reproduce rapidly and can evolve in a relatively short time. One example is the bacterium E. coli. Its DNA [ DNA : The material inside the nucleus of cells, carrying genetic information. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. ] can be damaged or changed during replication, and most of the time this causes the death of the cell. But occasionally the mutation is beneficial (to the bacteria). For example, it may allow resistance to certain antibiotics [ antibiotics : Substances that kill bacteria. ]. When those antibiotics are present, the resistant bacteria have an advantage over the bacteria that are not resistant. Antibioticresistant strains of bacteria are an increasing problem in hospitals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/classification_inheritance/evolutionrev_print.shtml[10/21/2013 8:12:01 PM]

BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Evolution

DNA
Scientists can now examine the DNA from different species of organism and use the data produced to see how closely related the two species are to each other. By collecting a lot of this data, scientists can compare the results with conventional ideas about how organisms have evolved. What they found was that DNA data supported the conventional theory of evolution.

Validating evidence
Darwins theory of evolution is still known as a theory but it is widely accepted within the scientific community. This wasnt the case when it was first published as there was very little scientific evidence to back up his ideas. Now we have evidence from DNA and studies on resistant bacteria to help validate (confirm) the theory. All new scientific evidence is assessed by the scientific community through:

scientific journals the peer review process scientific conferences.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/classification_inheritance/evolutionrev_print.shtml[10/21/2013 8:12:01 PM]