Innovative traits that characterize higher taxonomic groups often lack intraspecific polymorphism, complicating genetic analysis and leaving many questions about their evolutionary origins unanswered. However, many such innovative features have evolved more than once. Recent research shows that these repeatedly evolved traits often arise from identical genetic changes. This finding suggests that studying convergent evolution at the molecular level could reveal the genetic basis of these traits, even in organisms that are difficult to study in a laboratory setting. To identify genetic changes associated with specific phenotypes on a macroevolutionary scale, we have developed new tools for analyzing the convergent evolution of gene sequences and expression. Applying these approaches to carnivorous plants, we have identified instances where substrate-binding pockets in specific metabolic enzymes have been convergently altered multiple times across different carnivorous lineages, despite tens of millions of years of evolutionary divergence. In this presentation, I will discuss the research opportunities that arise from viewing convergent evolution as a valuable resource for understanding biological diversity.