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“It’s pretty nifty to see a new biological function evolve,” said Zachary Blount, postdoctoral researcher in MSU’s BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. “The first citrate-eaters were just barely able to grow on the citrate, but they got much better over time. We wanted to understand the changes that allowed the bacteria to evolve this new ability. We were lucky to have a system that allowed us to do so.”
I remember reading about this ongoing study some time ago. It's really nice that someone had the discipline and wherewithal to keep it going. What's particulary cool is that they can revive early frozen generations and see if they take the same path, or how long it takes to do so.