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How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations

The Quanta Podcast

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The Evolution of Supergreens

Supergreens are stretches of DNA that lock several genes together into a single, inheritable unit. Supergene's help wild sunflowers adapt to a range of environments such as sand dunes and coastal plains. In some fire ant species, supergene's determine which type of social organization predominates. The definition of a supergene is rather technical but scientists still argue about its finer points.

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