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

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

Jeremy W Fox  1 , Richard E Lenski  2
Affiliations

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

Jeremy W Fox et al. PLoS Biol. .

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The long-term evolution experiment.
The experiment involves daily transfers of 12 E. coli populations, and it has been running for over a quarter century. Image credit: Composite image by Richard Lenski and Brian Baer, Michigan State University.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Petri plates aplenty.
Former student, now postdoc, Zachary Blount and Richard Lenski horsing around with some of the Petri dishes from Blount's work on the evolution of citrate utilization in one population. Image credit: Brian Baer, Michigan State University.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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Publication types

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

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