ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Sean B. Carroll

Sean B. Carroll is a scientist who studies how living things evolve over time. To understand what this means, let's imagine you have a toy dinosaur made out of Legos. If you took that toy dinosaur and changed some of its Lego pieces to make it look different, that's kind of like what happens in evolution. Instead of Legos, though, living things have genes - special instructions in their bodies that tell them how to grow and develop.

Sean B. Carroll wants to understand how changes in genes over time lead to new forms of life. He does this by looking at different kinds of animals and comparing their genes. For example, he might look at the genes of a bat and a mouse to see how they are similar and different. By doing this, he can learn how the bodies of these animals became different over time.

Carroll also studies how genes control the way animals look and behave. Just like how some Legos are important for making certain parts of your dinosaur toy, different genes control different parts of a living organism's body. By studying how these genes work, Carroll can understand more about how different animals are able to survive and thrive in their environments.

Overall, Sean B. Carroll is a scientist who studies how living things have changed and evolved over time, using genes as a guide. By doing this, he can better understand how different animals are suited to their environments, and how they might continue to evolve in the future.