Evolution

The History The theories:
 * Creationism - God created all of the different species
 * Spontaneous generation - living things can appear
 * Evolution from pre-existing organisms
 * Evolution through natural selection

Variation Variation is caused by mutations to DNA, creating new alleles. Some mutations are silent (the change is not noticeable), some mutations are fatal (an organism cannot live with the change to the original allele) and some mutations are beneficial (the new allele helps the organism to survive).

Natural Selection Charles Darwin first proposed the theory of evolution via natural selection. Natural selection occurs when:
 * there are a large number of individuals in the population
 * there is competition for resources
 * there is variation within the species

Evidence There are four types of evidence for evolution
 * Fossils - the fossil record is put together by how old a fossil is (this can be determined by the age and depth of the rock and chemical testing).
 * Anatomy - closely related species have very similar structures which can be compared. For example; mammals have a very similar number of bones in the forelimbs which can be compared.
 * DNA - closely related species have a very similar DNA sequences. A high number of differences means the organisms are not closely related.
 * Embryology - closely related species have very similar embryos at early stages of development

Pangaea Game

The future Biotechnology involves manipulating living organisms to produce certain products. For example: Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs) are living things which have had their DNA altered to create a certain product, this sometimes involves introducing a gene from one organism into another.