From Here to Eternity--The Theory and Practice of a Really Long Experiment

Jeremy W Fox; Richard E Lenski

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002185

From Here to Eternity--The Theory and Practice of a Really Long Experiment

PLoS Biol. 2015 Jun 23;13(6):e1002185. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002185. eCollection 2015 Jun.

Authors

Jeremy W Fox¹, Richard E Lenski²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
² Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.

Abstract

In February 1988, Richard Lenski set up 12 replicate populations of a single genotype of Escherichia coli in a simple nutrient medium. He has been following their evolution ever since. Here, Lenski answers provocative questions from Jeremy Fox about his iconic "Long-Term Evolution Experiment" (LTEE). The LTEE is a remarkable case study of the interplay of determinism and chance in evolution-and in the conduct of science.

Publication types

Interview

MeSH terms

Biological Evolution*
Escherichia coli
Research Design*

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.