Genes? There's an App for That

Researchers at Penn State have created a new smartphone app called "TimeTree," an interactive interface that tracks the evolution of genes throughout Earth's history. The comparative biology application draws on the vast amounts of data on the Internet about the diverse genes of Earth's organisms, allowing users to see how long ago two species may have shared a common ancestor, the researchers say in a press release. The user types in the names of two organisms, and the app searches its database to find how long ago they shared an ancestor, while along the side of the display, the app also shows a geological timescale with data points marking the various studies used to reach the result. The researchers have also created a video which explains how "TimeTree" works.