A neutral genetic mutation—a fluke in the evolutionary process that had no apparent biological purpose—that appeared over 700 million years ago in biological evolution could help explain the origin of complex organs and structures in human beings and other vertebrates, according to an article published in Nature Communications by a team led by CRG group leader Manuel Irimia, university professor Jordi García-Fernàndez, of the Faculty of Biology and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and Maria Ina Arnone (Anton Dohrn Zoological Station, Italy).