biology

Richard Lenski

Richard Lenski is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard Lenski rather than just read about it. In short: Richard E. Lenski (born 1956) is an American evolutionary biologist who is the John A.

Key takeaways

Richard Lenski belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard Lenski to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard Lenski from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard E. Lenski (born 1956) is an American evolutionary biologist who is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a MacArthur Fellow. Lenski is best known for his still ongoing 38-year-old long-term E. coli evolution experiment, which has been instrumental in understanding the core processes of evolution, including mutation rates, clonal interference, antibiotic resistance, the evolution of novel traits, and speciation. He is also well known for his pioneering work in studying evolution digitally using self-replicating organisms called Avida.

Early life Richard Lenski is the son of the sociologist Gerhard Lenski and the poet Jean Lenski. He is also the great-nephew of children's author Lois Lenski, the great-grandson of Lutheran commentator Richard C. H. Lenski, and the son-in-law of child development psychologist Alice Honig. He earned his AB from Oberlin College in 1976, and his PhD from the University of North Carolina in 1982.

Scientific career After completing his doctoral degree, Lenski did postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Bruce Levin at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he began his work studying microbiology. In 1985, Lenski joined the faculty in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine, and he was promoted to associate professor there in 1988. In 1991, Lenski moved his lab to Michigan State University, joining the NSF Science and Technology Center for Microbial Ecology there. Lenski did sabbaticals at Oxford University, working with Robert May, and the University of Montpellier, hosted by Isabelle Olivieri.

Research

E. coli experiment

The E. coli long-term evolution experiment is an ongoing study in experimental evolution led by Richard Lenski that has been tracking genetic changes in 12 initially identical populations of asexual Escherichia coli bacteria since 24 February 1988. The populations reached the milestone of 75,000 generations in 2022. Since the experiment's inception, Lenski and his colleagues have reported a wide array of genetic changes; some evolutionary adaptations have occurred in all 12 populations, while others have only appeared in one or a few populations. One particularly striking adaptation was the evolution of a strain of E. coli that was able to use citrate as a carbon source in an aerobic environment. A defining characteristic of E. coli is its inability to use citrate as an energy source under oxic conditions.

Avida simulation Richard Lenski has collaborated with Charles Ofria, Chris Adami, and others on research using an artificial life computer program that allows detailed analyses on the evolution of complex systems. The system allows the user to set the rate of random mutations, while natural selection acts within a virtual world promotes those mutations that provide beneficial traits (and selects against deleterious mutations). The program was dubbed Avida and starts with an artificial petri dish where organisms reproduce and perform mathematical calculations to acquire rewards in the form of increased computer time for replication. The program randomly adds mutations to copies of the artificial organisms, which are then subject to natural selection. As the artificial life reproduces, different lines adapt and evolve depending on their environments. The program aims to parallel the evolution of biological life in a highly abstracted form and at a much faster speed.

Media In August 2013, having been inspired by a presentation by Titus Brown on the role of social media in science, Lenski began blogging at Telliamed Revisited and tweeting as @RELenski.

Lenski's research has received considerable attention, including lengthy discussion in Carl Zimmer's book on E. coli, Microcosm, and in Richard Dawkins' book on the evidence for evolution, The Greatest Show on Earth. Included in Dawkins' discussion was a description of the dialog Lenski had in 2008 with Andrew Schlafly, creator of Conservapedia, which Schlafly initiated as a reaction to reports of Lenski's description of the evolution of aerobic citrate usage in one of the long-term evolution experiment populations. These same findings were later cited by the creationist Ken Ham in a debate over evolution with Bill Nye. Lenski strongly criticized Ham's citation of his work and the conclusions Ham drew from it. In 2021, Lenski was interviewed about the long-term evolution experiment by Derek Muller for a Veritasium video, which has been viewed over 6 million times.

Honors Lenski was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1991 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1996, and in 2006 he was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. Lenski is a fellow at the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he holds the title of the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. In 2012 he was an inaugural Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. On February 17, 2010, he co-founded the NSF Science and Technology Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, known as the BEACON Center. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018. Lenski was the recipient of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Evolution.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Lenski

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Lenski claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard Lenski before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard Lenski ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard Lenski

In research: Richard Lenski appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard Lenski in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard Lenski is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, 21st-century American biologists, American evolutionary biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Lenski outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard Lenski in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard Lenski means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard Lenski out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Lenski in simple terms?

Richard E. Lenski (born 1956) is an American evolutionary biologist who is the John A.

Why does Richard Lenski matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard Lenski?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard Lenski.