Before complex life evolved, 1.7 billion years ago, only single-celled bacteria and archaea existed. The third branch is eukaryotes, organisms with more complex cells that comprise the higher forms of life, up to humans. But a recently discovered class of microorganisms, deemed “marvel microbes” for their unique properties, sheds light on the evolutionary transition from simple to complex cells. The two types of organisms shared a common ancestry, but how the eukaryotes evolved into complex life from small, simple cells was unknown. The new study details the discovery of a new group of archaea, the Asgard archaea, which provide insight on how eukaryotes evolved.

Source: Huffington Post January 14, 2017 04:16 UTC