Nine genome-doubling waves helped flowering plants weather Earth's crises
A Cell study of 470 flowering-plant genomes uncovered 132 independent whole-genome duplication events over the last 150 million years, organized into at least nine bursts that line up with major environmental upheavals such as global cooling/warming and mass extinctions. These genome doublings produce polyploids, often called hopeful monsters, which can enhance survival under stress despite cellular and fertility costs. The findings imply that repeated genome duplications helped flowering plants endure Earth’s climatic and ecological crises and may influence how crops respond to climate change, though future bursts would take millions of years to emerge.