Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isn’t Genetically Complex

Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog.

An overarching theme in the story of evolution, at least over the past half billion years or so, is rising complexity. There are other themes, of course, but life has undoubtedly become more complicated since its origin. Early cells globbed together to form multicellular coalitions. Those developed more complex bodies and lifestyles as the millennia passed, finding ever more varied ways to make a living. You might expect that as bodies became more complex, genomes did as well.

But  appearing in  shows that not to be the case—at least for jellyfish, humble organisms that evolved at a crucial juncture in animal history. They did not need more