Real-time evolution, observed at global scale.
The paradigm that evolution of species is a gradual, slow process has been challenged. With a large network of collaborators, GrENE-net is a coordinated distributed experiment with Arabidopsis thaliana, built to test whether the genetic basis of rapid adaptation is predictable — especially in novel future climates.
The field experiment & first sequencing
Setting up the distributed field experiment across all sites and pool-sequencing the evolving populations through the first three years.
Five-year evolution & deep sequencing
Sequencing the evolved populations through year five, plus individually sequencing frozen seed-bank samples for deeper coverage — resolving the underlying biology of adaptation.
Reciprocal transplants
Scope still taking shape — likely reciprocal transplants of the experimentally evolved populations to new sites, directly testing whether adaptation holds when populations move across climates.
A simple protocol, repeated everywhere, season after season.
Sow
Participants received seed mixtures of c. 200 natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana and sowed them into small replicated outdoor plots in 2017.
Let it evolve
The plots have been evolving on their own ever since — adapting to each local climate, generation after generation.
Sample
Every year, participants collect plant material — one flower per successful individual — throughout the reproductive stage.
Sequence
Pooled samples are whole-genome sequenced to track changes in the abundances of alleles and accessions through time and space.
Is evolution rapid?
In which climates?
Can we detect it in the genome?
Does it help populations survive?
In our Science study, rapid adaptation to climate was possible within 3–5 years where genetic diversity was sufficient. But populations in the hottest environments showed random genetic change rather than adaptation — and went extinct, revealing an evolutionary breaking point under extreme heat.
Summary figure — Wu, Bellagio, Peng et al., Rapid adaptation and extinction in synchronized outdoor evolution experiments of Arabidopsis, Science (2026).
Open the data centerProtocols, policy & ethics.
General GrENE-net protocol
The full sowing, sampling and sequencing protocol followed by every participating site.
Policy & ethics statement
How material, data and authorship are handled across the distributed network.
Terminating an experiment
Steps to safely conclude a plot and eliminate any trace of planted seeds.
Note on post-experiment handling: although A. thaliana is native or naturalized everywhere GrENE-net operates, participants grow replicate populations in a controlled area, preferably an institution's grounds free from natural A. thaliana. After the experiment all used soil and plant material is incinerated and a herbicide treatment is applied in a secured perimeter to eliminate any trace of planted seeds.
Latest from the network.
GrENE-net published in Science
Our paper “Rapid adaptation and extinction in synchronized outdoor evolution experiments of Arabidopsis” is now published in Science!
Town hall 2023: first phase of sequencing complete
At our January 2023 general meeting, we shared a major milestone: the first phase of sequencing was finalized. Roughly 2,500 samples — three years ...
Town hall 2021: pool sequencing is delivering
At our July 2021 general meeting, the network came together to share encouraging progress. After the first seasons of sampling, pool sequencing was...
GrENE-net–ing … in progress …
Despite the challenges that 2020 brought, our lab in the Carnegie Department of Plant Biology at Stanford, has been working to process the GrENE-ne...
GrENE-net is growing up!
90 enthusiastic researchers and 40 institutions, 45 sites, 12 replicate plots per site, ~5 million seeds distributed and sown. This is how GrENE-ne...
And the first flower price goes to …
About one year after the official launch of GrENE-net, in Darwin’s 2017 birthday, the first flowers of this globally distributed evolution experime...
