Genome Duplication Is a Radical Evolutionary Gamble

Genome doubling, also called polyploidy, occurs when an organism inherits extra copies of its entire genetic material.

Instead of the usual two sets of chromosomes (one from each parent), polyploid organisms have three or more.

This is a radical genetic mutation because it instantly doubles or triples the organism’s genetic load.

Most polyploidy events are fatal, as the cell struggles to manage the sudden surplus of DNA.

However, a small fraction of these events stabilize, allowing the organism to survive and potentially adapt.

Polyploidy is particularly common in plants, with all seed plants having undergone at least one ancient whole-genome duplication.

Examples include broccoli, kale, and tomatoes, which evolved fleshy fruit thanks to past genome duplications.

Scientists like Douglas Soltis from the Florida Museum of Natural History describe polyploidy as the most important evolutionary process that is not widely known.