Meat Eating Plants in Different World Regions Share Same Genetic Evolution

In New York, researchers conducted a genetic analysis on three types of remotely related pitcher plants from Australia, Asia and America and found that they all have become meat lovers through their genetic evolution, albeit independently from each other. You may recall in the 1980’s Little Shop of Horrors movie how crazy of an idea it was to see a carnivorous plant eating meaty items, eventually devouring people, but the road to becoming a meat loving plant was the same for several plants from different continents who are seemingly unrelated. This research on the evolution of their proteins and enzymes indicates that there are only a few genetic paths for plants to evolve and acquire similar traits, like becoming carnivorous plants. How these carnivorous plants will continue to evolve remains to be seen.