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The genetic insertion behind peppered moths’ dark wings

Quanta Magazine reports that researchers found an inserted genetic fragment in nearly all the black-winged moths they studied, but not in white-winged moths. How it produced dark wings remains unknown.

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1 Source, 8h ago, first seen 8h ago

TLDR

Quanta Magazine reports that researchers sequenced hundreds of peppered moth genomes and found a genetic fragment inserted into a wing-development gene in nearly all the black-winged moths, but absent in white-winged moths. They estimated the insertion occurred in 1819, after rising pollution had begun changing the moths’ habitat. How the fragment led to dark wings remains unknown.

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1 Source

@QuantaMagazineAround 200 years ago, the peppered moths of England were readily identifiable by their black-speckled white wings, which camouflaged well with pale tree bark. But after the Industrial Revolution, when pollution from coal-powered factories darkened the trees, black wings came to dominate the population. Evolutionary biologists later explained that in the new, sootier environment, white moths were easily spotted by predatory birds, while black moths blended in with the darkened bark. The white moths had lost their survival advantage, and black moths survived better and reproduced. Life marched on. This story about the dark-winged peppered moths is now considered a textbook example of natural selection. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that researchers uncovered the genetic mechanism behind the wardrobe change. By sequencing hundreds of peppered moth genomes, the geneticists found a significant and consistent difference in a gene involved in wing development. A genetic fragment, absent in the white-winged moths, had been inserted into the beginning of this gene in nearly all the black moths and had led, through an unknown mechanism, to the production of dark-colored wings. The authors estimated that this transposition occurred in 1819 — after the rise in pollution levels had started to alter the moth’s habitat. “This is completely changing how we see rapid adaptation,” said Pierre Baduel, a geneticist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. It is typically thought that generating new traits takes long periods of evolutionary time. In this case, a new trait was immediately selected for. 🦋Read the full explainer: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-virus-like-jumping-genes-became-our-partners-in-evolution-20260921/
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    @QuantaMagazineAround 200 years ago, the peppered moths of England were readily identifiable by their black-speckled white wings, which camouflaged well with pale tree bark. But after the Industrial Revolution, when pollution from coal-powered factories darkened the trees, black wings came to dominate the population. Evolutionary biologists later explained that in the new, sootier environment, white moths were easily spotted by predatory birds, while black moths blended in with the darkened bark. The white moths had lost their survival advantage, and black moths survived better and reproduced. Life marched on. This story about the dark-winged peppered moths is now considered a textbook example of natural selection. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that researchers uncovered the genetic mechanism behind the wardrobe change. By sequencing hundreds of peppered moth genomes, the geneticists found a significant and consistent difference in a gene involved in wing development. A genetic fragment, absent in the white-winged moths, had been inserted into the beginning of this gene in nearly all the black moths and had led, through an unknown mechanism, to the production of dark-colored wings. The authors estimated that this transposition occurred in 1819 — after the rise in pollution levels had started to alter the moth’s habitat. “This is completely changing how we see rapid adaptation,” said Pierre Baduel, a geneticist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. It is typically thought that generating new traits takes long periods of evolutionary time. In this case, a new trait was immediately selected for. 🦋Read the full explainer: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-virus-like-jumping-genes-became-our-partners-in-evolution-20260921/
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