Academic-Capital

Richard Lenski of Michigan State University has grown Escherichia coli bacteria since 1988. Even after 58,000 generations, he found that no supreme bacteria were produced. He expected that someday the bacteria would create the ultimate fit entity that was much stronger than their evolutionary predecessors. What he found was that evolution slowed but continued to adjust and change.  The findings are significant in that it is assumed that eventually all creatures max out in their development. This is not true. As the evolutionary process develops, it never really hits its maximum peak. New peaks are always in sight so the species continues to develop.  There is an assumption that biological change is a result of environmental change. If an environment stays the same, a species will reach its biological peak and any further mutations will force it downward into a less competitive stance. Decline becomes a type of biological crash whereby further adaptations put the system ou