Molecular evolution

Molecular evolution is the process of evolution in DNA, RNA, and proteins.

Molecular evolution emerged as a scientific field in the 1960s as researchers from molecular biology, evolutionary biology and population genetics sought to understand the structure and function of nucleic acids and protein. Some of the key topics have been the evolution of enzyme function, the use of nucleic acid changes as a molecular clock to study species divergence, and the origin of non-functional or junk DNA.

Recent advances in genomics, including whole-genome sequencing, and bioinformatics have led to a dramatic increase in studies on the topic. In the 2000s, the role of gene duplication, the extent of adaptive molecular evolution versus neutral genetic drift, and the identification of molecular changes responsible for various human characteristics especially those pertaining to infection, disease, and cognition.