An international research team led from Uppsala University in Sweden has identified a metabolic shift in ancient microbes that helps explain how Earth’s first complex cells arose from a merger of ...

Genetics tools have advanced significantly in recent decades, and have allowed scientist to sequence all of the genetic material they find in any sample. That has enabled researchers to discover giant ...

Billions of years ago, life on Earth made a leap from simple microbes to complex cells with nuclei and organelles. New research reveals that our archaeal ancestors already possessed advanced molecular ...

Tom has a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford and his interests range from immunology and microscopy to the philosophy of science.View full profile Tom has a master’s degree ...

Animals, from worms and sponges to jellyfish and whales, contain anywhere from a few thousand to tens of trillions of nearly genetically identical cells. Depending on the organism, these cells arrange ...

An artist’s depiction of an Asgard archaeon, based on cryo-electron tomography data: the cell body and appendages feature thread-like skeletal structures, similar to those found in complex cells with ...

Multicellular organisms, like animals and plants, have complex cells with diverse functions. This complexity arises from the need for cells to produce distinct proteins that interact with each other.

In the oceans and on land, scientists are discovering rare, transitional organisms that bridge the gap between Earth’s simplest cells and today’s complex ones. By Carl Zimmer A flurry of new studies ...

The evolution of complex life is strictly dependent on mitochondria, the tiny power stations found in all complex cells, according to a new study by Dr Nick Lane, from UCL (University College London), ...