The Longest-Running Evolution Experiment

If you ran evolution all over again, would you get humans? How repeatable is #evolution? This video is sponsored by @BountyBrand. #biology #science #QPU #HygieneBeginswithBounty #BountyPartner

Special thanks to Prof. Richard Lenski and team for showing me around the lab — it is an honor to be able to witness and document such a historic science experiment.
Thanks to Dr Zachary Blount for the help with research and setting up the competition time-lapse, Dr Nkrumah Grant for microscope images of the long-term line cells @NkrumahGrant
Devin Lake, Kate Bellgowan, and Dr. Minako Izutsu for being part of this video. Long Live the LTEE!

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References:

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Special thanks to Patreon supporters: Mike Tung, Evgeny Skvortsov, Meekay, Ismail Öncü Usta, Paul Peijzel, Crated Comments, Anna, Mac Malkawi, Michael Schneider, Oleksii Leonov, Jim Osmun, Tyson McDowell, Ludovic Robillard, Jim buckmaster, fanime96, Juan Benet, Ruslan Khroma, Robert Blum, Richard Sundvall, Lee Redden, Vincent, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Alfred Wallace, Arjun Chakroborty, Joar Wandborg, Clayton Greenwell, Pindex, Michael Krugman, Cy 'kkm' K'Nelson, Sam Lutfi, Ron Neal

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Research and Writing by by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev and Casey Rentz
Animation by Ivy Tello
Filmed by Derek Muller, Emily Zhang and Raquel Nuno
Edited by Derek Muller
Additional video supplied by Getty Images
Thumbnail image courtesy of the Kishony Lab
Produced by Casey Rentz
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[ayisyamirul]

His team has been doing this for 33 years and not missed a single day? Now that’s commitment.

[bx]

Generation 990k: "what do you mean it evolved to eat glass and petri dishes?"

[skutny]

Everyone gangsta till the bacteria starts eating glass

[grys]

This professor is frighteningly good at explaining and keeping his audience engaged. I can see why he spoke for most of the video, and how there seems to be minimal cuts / editing of footage. Amazing! Thoroughly enjoyed grasping new concepts from listening to him.

[janikarkkainen]

I love how Dr. Lenski is really happy and visibly proud of the work he and his team has done, while at the same time giving a very humble and down to earth aura.

[ethanduggan]

Man you know that traditional advertisement is dying when household product brands like Bounty are partnering with individual influencers.

[strawberryzebras]

Never thought I'd see a YouTuber sponsored by paper towels

[gavinmeier]

They should've just filled the observable universe with E Coli. That would be so badass.

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

A wise man once said: "Life finds a way."

[Sciencerely]

As a human biologist, I think there are also astonishing examples of rapid evolution in humans. To give an example, a mutation occurred roughly 20 000 years ago in Europe which made people lactose tolerant. Since lactose tolerance supported survival during repeated periods of starvation, it rapidly spread to different populations and contributed to greater population growth (I made a video about this ). This mutation was so successful that we can find it in the majority of all people of European descent today!

[straaths]

Few generations later...
"This flask's walls are yummy!"

[mysticvitriol]

Imagine one of these days one colony forms a multicellular structure. Or 'cannibalise' but not really and form a structure similar to mitochondria or chloroplast. That would be sooo cool.

[justadummy]

People miss that the opening video of the Antibacterial-Resistant Bacteria showcases exactly why you shouldn’t overuse antibiotics.

[jeffwei]

Everyone gangster until the bacteria evolve heat tolerance to survive the incinerator

[zeuskf]

You can tell that this professor really is interested in what he is doing.

[PillowEgg]

"If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it's that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh... well, there it is." - Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park.

[amirrezaazimi]

The professor is so good at explaining what they do and what they have found!

[Nepheos]

These guys have been playing Plague Inc since before it was even developed.

[bernardoriper]

Derek: What happens in the autoclave room?
Genocide, Derek, genocide...

[billwillett]

Wonderful. I felt like a 5 year old learning something new about my world.