laboratory evolution

Laboratory evolution involves deliberately encouraging organisms, like bacteria or viruses, to adapt to specific conditions in a controlled setting. Scientists do this by repeatedly exposing the organisms to their environment and selecting the ones that survive or perform best. Over multiple cycles, this process allows the organisms to develop new traits or improve existing ones, similar to natural evolution but accelerated in a lab. This technique helps researchers understand how organisms adapt, develop resistance, or improve useful functions, and can be used to create new medicines, enzymes, or other useful biological products.