How Did Roses Get Their Thorns? The “prickles,” as botanists call them, evolved in roses and other plants thanks to a single gene, a new study found.

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Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨silence7@slrpnk.net⁩ to ⁨nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz⁩

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/01/science/how-did-roses-get-their-thorns.html?unlocked_article_code=1._k0.oGJt.4wAL6NmHdu22

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Xanthrax@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’d assume it’s like cancer, but it ended up helping the organism, so they all evolved to have them.

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- silence7@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Every successful mutation is like that. The article has a fair bit more detail.
  
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  - Xanthrax@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    True.
    
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