The mystery of life’s beginnings has long captivated scientists. Central to that search is LUCA—the last universal common ancestor. LUCA sits at the root of the evolutionary tree, where two great ...

Understanding the origin of the building block of all animal and plant life may lead to more insights about life on Earth and ...

Gene editing in archaea would require a molecular toolkit that microbiologists have yet to develop. 18 “You have to find an antibiotic or selection marker that works. You have to find plasmids. It’s ...

Corals everywhere on the planet live in harmony with microscopic organisms. Many corals get their vivid colors from ...

Earth’s first life forms eventually took one of three different paths, forming the domains of Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea. These domains have been evolving separately for billions of years. Recent ...

Indeed, archaea and bacteria appear very similar biologically (members of both groups consist of tiny cells without much internal structure) and different from eukaryotes. However, until ...

Names in red are the first 56 genomes sequenced for the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea. This group represents a broader sampling of the “Tree of Life” than has previously been ...

Corals everywhere on the planet live in harmony with microscopic organisms. Many corals get their vivid colors from ...

LUCA sits at the root of the evolutionary tree, where two great domains of life—Bacteria and Archaea—split. This ancient microbe holds clues about how life first gained a foothold on Earth.