# Scientists Have Witnessed in Real-Time a Single-Celled Algae Evolve Into a

**URL:** <https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846>\
**Category:** Conversation\
**Tags:** Science\
**Created:** [February 25, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846 "2019-02-25T22:49:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Patrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b2d939/32.png) [@Patrick](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Patrick)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/1 "2019-02-25T22:49:54Z")

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> **[Scientists Have Witnessed in Real-Time a Single-Celled Algae Evolve Into a...](https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a-multicellular-organism?fbclid=IwAR1Uq7sT5JyKHmpzPbI6Hoy0nbIM3bCUEbU_7Ys3tSFpuY0QGhZRfJGB6ZY)**
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> Most of us know that at some point in our evolutionary history around 600 million years ago, single-celled organisms evolved into more complex multicellular life.

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**Author:** ![Edgar\_Tamarian](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/edgar_tamarian/32/3316_2.png) [@Edgar\_Tamarian](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Edgar_Tamarian)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/2 "2019-02-26T22:27:57Z")

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The problem here i think is the term «Multicellular Organism», colonies of cells i would not call multicellular Organism

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**Author:** ![Mark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Mark](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Mark)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/3 "2019-02-26T23:32:30Z")

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So did the DNA of the survivor’s change?

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**Author:** ![Mark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Mark](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Mark)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/4 "2019-02-26T23:36:29Z")

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@T_aquaticus,

Coming from our discussion of NGE, if there was some sort of evolution and DNA change, to me, this seems to support Shapiro’s hypothesis of major evolutionary transitions having triggers or being brought on through environmental stress. Am I going wrong somewhere?

And hello @Edgar_Tamarian, welcome to PS! I apologize if I missed a previous welcoming of your presence.

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**Author:** ![T\_aquaticus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/t_aquaticus/32/1249_2.png) [@T\_aquaticus](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/T_aquaticus)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/5 "2019-02-26T23:53:16Z")

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> [@Mark](#):
>
> Coming from our discussion of NGE, if there was some sort of evolution and DNA change, to me, this seems to support Shapiro’s hypothesis of major evolutionary transitions having triggers or being brought on through environmental stress. Am I going wrong somewhere?

Environmental stress is just a change in selective pressures which has been a part of the theory for a long time. If we are talking about an increase in mutation rate due to stress, then we are talking about an increase in the random mutation rate. More random mutations are still random. That has also been a part of the theory for a while.

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**Author:** ![Mark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Mark](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Mark)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/scientists-have-witnessed-in-real-time-a-single-celled-algae-evolve-into-a/4846/6 "2019-02-27T01:02:09Z")

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Might that be what’s going on here?