Year in review: Fluke extinction surprises lab
Accident, not competition, wiped out E. coli
CAUSE OF DEATH Researchers previously believed that the extinction in one flask of bacteria in a long-term evolution experiment was the result of survival of the fittest. This year, scientists discovered the bacteria's demise was more likely an accident.
NEERJA HAJELA AND BRIAN BAER/MICHIGAN STATE UNIV.
A die-off of bacteria that had been growing for thousands of generations in a carefully controlled lab experiment offered an evolutionary lesson this year: Survival depends not only on fitness but also on luck.