From the molecules the history of life

Nucleic acids, the molecules responsible for the storage and transmission of genetic information, can disclose the beguiling history of the evolution of life on the Earth. In this paper, the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolutionary processes are illustrated together with the methods for the recollection of their history. The impact of molecular data on the evolutionary studies is stressed together with the importance of suitable mathematical models for the treatment of sequence data.

Possible future scenarios are conceived for the evolutionary process in relation to environmental phenomena, on account of the new technologies and the development of genetic engineering.

Keywords:

• biosequences
• environment
• genetic engineering
• molecular evolution
• mutations
• phytogeny