E. coli long-term evolution experiment

Okay kiddo, have you ever heard of E. coli? It's a tiny bacterium that usually lives in our gut and helps us digest our food. Scientists have been studying it for a long time.

One group of scientists wanted to see how E. coli would change over a long period of time. So, they decided to conduct an experiment that would last for many years, even decades! They called it the "long-term evolution experiment."

In this experiment, the scientists put some E. coli bacteria into a container with a special food called glucose. Every day, they would transfer a small amount of the bacterial culture to a fresh container with more glucose. This process kept the bacteria alive and allowed them to reproduce.

But here's the interesting part: the scientists added a twist. Every so often, they would take a small sample of the bacteria and freeze it. This way, they could compare the original bacteria to the bacteria at different points in time.

Over time, the scientists began to notice changes in the bacteria. Some of the E. coli populations were growing faster than others. Some were better at using the glucose as a food source. And others were developing new traits altogether!

The scientists were able to observe all of these changes because they had saved the frozen samples. By comparing the DNA of the original bacteria with the current bacteria, they could see exactly how the E. coli had evolved over many years.

In the end, this experiment helped the scientists understand how evolution works. They were able to watch it happen in real time! And who knows, maybe someday you'll be a scientist studying E. coli too.