Computers and molecular techniques are ushering evolutionary biology into a new era.

Computers and molecular techniques are ushering evolutionary biology into a new era. Computers can be used to analyze phylogenetic relations between organisms, showing which species are more closely and which are more distantly related. Before the computer, such family trees were based on relatively few detailsof anatomy,which were often insufficient for firm conclusions about relationships. Biomolecular analysis was first applied to sequences of amino acids thatmake up certain proteins, such as hemoglobins. Today that technology has blossomed into a sophisticated array of methods for sequencing DNA and, in general, for studying how genes work.